Murder victim's family: If you see something, say something

The family of Anthony John, who was shot dead outside his La Retreat Road home in Arima, is urging the public to do their part in the fight against crime and “say something if you see something.”

Reports say John, 57, was was about to enter his yard around 6 am on July 15, when two men emerged from some nearby bushes and shot him several times.

John’s family say they have no idea why anyone would want to kill the father of four. Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, a female relative described him as peaceful, loving and kind.

“He don’t argue with people. He is a loving person and always encouraging peace. It would be hard to hear him coming to say somebody threatening him with something. He never had any threats before this happened to him.”

The relative said John was always encouraging people to do the right thing and the family hoped the public can do the same in the fight against crime.

They said without co-operation from the public, there is no way the police could get a handle on crime.

“There’s only so much the police can do because they can’t be everywhere all the time. So crime is something that has to be dealt with from on the inside. You need to be a neighbour’s keeper, in a sense.

“If there is no communication between civilians and police, we’re going to have a big hole in the middle, which is the crime, and it will never end, because nobody don’t want to talk to the police, and the police telling people what other people saying. So you can never get a handle on it if you don’t have any communication.” She acknowledged the fears people have about giving information to the police.

“If you see something, say something. But (the public) has to be guaranteed safety, because people could see something and say something today, and then tomorrow they are in problems. So people could say something, but they need to be guaranteed safety and that nobody knows it was them that said something.”

John’s relative said the police must also acknowledge they have work to do in gaining the public’s trust.

“The police need to work with the people in order to get this under control, because if someone is afraid to report something to you, then that tells me that there’s a serious issue within the service.”

She suggested the police increase their community engagement and visibility to increase the public’s confidence.

Pointing to her community, she said she does not see regular patrols until something happens in the area.

“Be on the ground more, because there’s a lot going on, on the ground, they don’t know about. Sometimes, sitting high, you just don’t know.

“Take a walk and be active (in the community). Not just when something happened like what happened on Monday, and just driving up and down until it clears up. Be permanently active in the community.”