Cops kill 6 'robbery suspects' in Freeport shootout

SIX people – five men and one woman – are dead after a shootout with police in Freeport just before midday on August 14.

Police said around 11.35 am on August 14 officers responded to information about a robbery and went to a house in Razack Trace, Freeport.

Police said when they arrived, they were shot at.

They said, in keeping with the police use-of-force policy, officers shot back, shooting six people in the exchange.

All six were taken to the Couva Health Facility, where they died on arrival.

Police said they recovered three pistols, along with items belonging to the victim of the robbery.

Newsday arrived in Razack Trace to find a small light-brown house in a large front yard. There was a heavy police presence in the road and at the house.

Senior police sources from the Central Division said the information received tied the individuals at the house to a house invasion that occurred around 6.30 am on August 14 at Otis Lane, Balmain, Couva.

The rest of the street was eerily silent, as neighbours on the street either stayed inside or were not at home.

One resident, who did not want to be named, was outside when the police arrived and was "impressed with their performance."

"They came in silently – no sirens or anything – did what they had to do, and then left."

He said two marked police vehicles and one unmarked vehicle (asilver Axio) were there when the shooting occurred.

He said the area is usually "very quiet" and the residents on the street are "close."

He explained how he knew the people from the house.

"Those people in that house have been renting there for around two-three years now.

"Two people stay there regularly – a man and a woman – but strange people come and go sometimes.

"I usually see this throughout the rest of the country, so I'm shocked that people living so close would be involved."

He concluded, "People involved in crime will always face the consequences if they were involved in crime."

Another resident took a video of the incident.

Newsday saw the video – timestamped 11.35 am – showed the police arriving.

Three seconds into the video, gunshots were heard, but both parties involved (police and the six deceased) could not be seen.

A second video – timestamped 11.45 am – showed the police leaving, with an officer sitting on the tray of a marked police vehicle and what appeared to be a white tarpaulin or sheet covering the wounded people. The video ended there.

Both men said they were not worried about something like that happening again and wouldn't add "more security" because of the incident.

Crime scene investigators were still processing the scene up until 3.20 pm when Newsday left.

From Razack Trace, Newsday went to the Couva Health Facility.

There, officers from the Central Division added more in relation to the senior police sources' statement.

They claimed the people at the house had been involved in several home invasions in the past week – throughout the Central and South area.

Relatives not allowed to see bodies

Newsday understands three of the six people killed are Jovan Simon, 31, of Couva, and brothers Kadeem and Saleem John.

Police at the scene said they had identified one of the six men as Kevon St Bernard, alias Kevon John – as he was known to them – but a man at the Couva Health Facility told Newsday he believed that individual was his relative Kadeem John.

The same man said he was convinced, based on social media posts, that John and his brother Saleem were among the six killed.

A relative of Simon also said social media reports had identified him among the slain.

The male relative of Simon said at the age of four, he left TT to go to Brooklyn, New York.

"He then moved to Atlanta some years later. At Hiram High School, he was ranked as a top six running-back (American football)."

He said, however, an injury  derailed his hopes of a career in the sport.

The relative claimed Simon did not have any prior convictions, but met his untimely death by being in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

"He was a good person who like plenty woman and rum. He loved to lime."

A female relative, who did not want to be named, also said Simon was a limer and drinker.

Simon had one child and the relative described him as an "excellent father."

The male relative said Simon told him he had another child in America, but he had no confirmation of that.

Roughly 16 of Simon's relatives were at the Couva Health Facility. They arrived at 2 pm and left at 7 pm.

They were visibly frustrated and angry at the process. They complained to Newsday of having to wait without police or hospital attendants giving them information on the situation.

The male relative said, "How we can be there for five hours without anyone talking to us?

"No forensic, no district medical officer, no police. No one got to identify their family member."

The families present said they found out their loved ones had died through social media posts – through pictures taken inside the Couva Health Facility.

The male relative of Simon said they will be taking legal action and "will receive justice for Simon's death."

"Simon was employed at Super Industrial Services and he had absolutely no reason to do crime.

"All he loved to do was lime and party and he had no reason to rob anyone."

The family is waiting for a relative who lives in America to make a report at the Police Complaints Authority.