Arrests outside St Francois Girls' College hours after 2 shot — Suspects flushed out from drains

IN SCENES straight out of a crime drama movie, two suspects who are believed to be responsible for shooting two men along Serraneau Road in Belmont, were flushed out hours later from a drain they were hiding in, opposite the St Francois Girls' College on September 27.

A senior police source said that at about 11 am, Curtis Jones and Pafawa Roberts were shot in Serraneau Road with the two gunmen subsequently running off. The shot men were taken to hospital for treatment.

Officers from the Port of Spain Division Task Force and the Investigation and Operations Unit (IAU) received a tip-off that two men who jumped out of a Nissan Tiida car, ran towards and jumped into a covered drain opposite the college.

Newsday arrived at 2.30 pm to find seven officers – guns drawn – surrounding a manhole at the corner of Waterman Road.

Three more officers emerged from the drain which saw water rushing through thanks to earlier rainfall in the surrounding area. The officers went to Percy Road – one street away – and searched a drain there.

Meanwhile, classes at the college were dismissed at 1.40 pm and the media tried speaking with parents who were picking up their children from school. Reporters flagged down the vehicle of a parent who picked up his daughter.

He said, "I feeling very unsafe."

Asked what he heard happened, he said, "They heard the shots and they (school officials) had to lock the gates and the school was closed up."

"I feel traumatised especially after what happened in Malick two days ago where they shot men outside a preschool."

The parent was referring to an incident on Wednesday where two men were shot dead and three others – including a four-year-old boy – were shot and wounded in front of the preschool in Malick.

Another man who came to collect his step-daughter at the college said crime had gotten out-of-hand. His daughter said the school was locked down and students and teachers had locked themselves into classrooms. While Newsday spoke with parents and students, heavily-armed police continued their search of the drain at the corner of Waterman Road for the suspects. Loud shouts from the officers confirmed that the suspects were trapped inside the drain.

CHAOS, GUNSHOTS THEN CAPTURE

A policeman, wearing a dark green jersey and black jeans with tactical boots and no bulletproof vest went into the drain with his pistol drawn. Other officers guarded various manhole covers traversing the drain along St Francois Valley Road in Belmont.

Officers were heard shouting orders for the suspects to surrender and come out of the drain.

At 3.28 pm, a man was seen at the manhole entrance and as officers pointed pistols and machine-guns at him, he was quickly pulled out of the drain. He appeared unhurt.

Soaked from head to toes from the drain water, the suspect who was wearing a blue jersey and grey three-quarter pants was handcuffed and lifted bodily and placed into the tray of a police van which sped off. The search for the other suspect continued.

Less than a minute after the first suspect surrendered, officers were seen firing three shots into a section of the drain network.

"Put down the gun!" an officer shouted, before telling another officer that the suspect was down in the drain

Whilst chaos ensued, traffic stood at a standstill as officers quickly cordoned the area. The frantic search continued with officers running from one manhole cover to others along the drain network.

Several more gunshots were heard. It was unclear if these shots were from police, the suspect or if there was a shootout.

As the shots rang out, some students from the college began screaming in terror.

At 3.29 pm, the officer who had gone into the drain emerged from the drain clutching his right shoulder. Four minutes later, an officer was heard shouting "bring de van!" before another officer ran up the street and got into a police van, driving it to the manhole opening.

Seconds later, another officer ran into the hole and began struggling with something. He then pulled a man out of the drain. The man who was motionless was quickly placed in the back of the police van. The suspect, who was bleeding from his chest, was taken away, presumably to hospital.

Speaking with Newsday later on Friday evening, head of the Port of Spain Division, Senior Superintendent Raymond Thom told Newsday one man remained in custody while another suspect who was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, had subsequently died. His identity was not yet known.

Thom said the police were still out in Belmont searching for a third suspect.

Contacted for comment via WhatsApp, Minister of Education Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said: "Thank God the situation at St François Girls' was contained outside of the school by the police.

"We also thank them for their interaction with, and guidance of the staff and students, to ensure that they were not exposed to danger."

Gadsby-Dolly said the college's Student Support Services Division will assist in the counselling of any student affected by the incident.