2 dead, toddler among 3 shot in Malick – Gunplay at preschool

A SHOOTING incident in front of Roxann's Learning and Childhood Centre in Malick, Barataria has left two men dead and three others – including a four-year-old boy – nursing gunshot wounds on September 25.

Newsday was told that as rapid gunfire broke out in front of the preschool on Basement Road, screams could be heard as people scampered away, some shielding their children who at the time were making their way into the school.

The two murdered men have been identified as Gerald Caliste and Kemo Caliste. Newsday was told that both men were related to each other but the nature of this relations was not known.

A police report said that at about 8 am, Gerald was standing outside the school when a car stopped, two gunmen got out and started shooting. He was hit several times, slumped to the ground and died at the scene. Gerald's mother later identified his body at the scene.

Kemo, who was shot multiple times, ran into the preschool in an attempt to escape the hail of bullets. He later died at hospital while receiving treatment.

In the wake of the gunplay, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar slammed the government saying they continue to fail the nation when it comes to security.

Snr Supt Mervyn Edwards told Newsday that Kemo was well-known to police and investigators have linked the double murder to gang-activity. He said that the four-year-old child who was shot in the leg, is the son of a policewoman. The child is said to be in stable condition.

Police gave no information on the other two shooting victims including their ages, gender, where they were shot and their medical condition.

"The North-Eastern Division Victim and Witness Support Unit was contacted and will provide the necessary support to the family of the victims and teachers, parents and children of the school, in the aftermath of the incident," Edwards said.

Newsday arrived on the scene at around 10.40 am as the rain fell. Police were still processing the scene with Gerald's body still lying where he was shot.

A female resident walking down the slope towards the media chided police for not covering the body. "Seeing that can traumatise a child for life! They supposed to cover that," she snapped. She said the children in the preschool were peeking out and taking in the crime scene officers and the body.

Asked what concerns she had for the community based on the incident, the woman said, "The future in trouble! That is my concern! I don't have words you know and I'm usually a boisterous person. I went up there and I not pleased. The mother there and everyone there. Cover that," she cried.

With the scene still being processed, parents were unable to pass it in order to get into the school to collect their children. A crime scene officer in full Hazmat suit, went to the entrance of the school, picked up a child and her backpack and handed over the child to a female relative who stood outside the police caution tape.

The woman who was walking back to her car after collecting her granddaughter was then approached by reporters. Asked how she felt about a murderous gunplay taking place outside a preschool, the woman said quietly: "It is f----d up! This is damn scary. Nowhere is safe anymore." She asked not to be identified. Asked if her granddaughter would be in school on Thursday, the woman said this would be up to the child's parents. She then got into the car and drove off.

A third woman who was walking along Basement Road said she did not know what had happened. Told of the shooting by this reporter, the woman shook her head.

"This is our reality now sad to say. But I don't really live in fear." She said the situation was a sad one especially as it happened outside a preschool.

"Bullets could have reached inside the school. There could have been more casualties. I still in shock as you telling me is five people get shoot?"

Approximately 20 people stood behind the caution tape watching as undertakers eventually took Gerald's body away almost four hours after he was killed. As his body was placed in a hearse, a female relative's anguished cries pierced the surrounding silence as a light drizzle fell. Police sources said the gunmen who opened fire outside the preschool, remained at large up to press time.

This is the second child to be directly affected by gun violence in a little over a month.

On August 20, Enrico Guerra and his five-year-old daughter Anika Guerra were both shot dead at their St Mary’s Village, Moruga home. Anika was at her father’s mini-mart having her hair combed by a relative when around 9.45 pm, three gunmen attacked her father who was standing outside the shop.

Trying to escape his attackers, Enrico, 35, ran inside the shop for cover but one of the assailants followed him inside continuing to shoot at him. Anika's mother dropped to the ground for cover. But for little Anika, it was too late as bullets slammed into her body. Enrico died at the scene and Anika died later in hospital. Her mother was shot in the arm but survived. To date, the killers have not been held.

Criminologist Dr Randy Seepersad said the population had reached a point where it is both frustrated by the violence but had also become desensitised.

“It’s possible that other than the families that are directly affected, society at large might just shrug it off and say 'that’s part of living in Trinidad and Tobago.'

"That kind of complacency is certainly not good at all. It’s not just about children being killed, but about people being killed in general. Even if it’s an adult, it’s just as grave in my mind as a child being killed, because people don’t deserve that.”

A senior police source told Newsday the murder toll after the Malick incident stood at 466.