Six more killed in 48 hours

Six more people were killed in various parts on the country between Wednesday and Thursday, including the son of Zakiya Uzoma-Wadada, the chair of the Emancipation Support Committee of TT.

Kwesi Wadada, 42, was gunned down while driving on October 23 in Belmont.

Police said around 3.20 pm, they received reports of gunshots near Rudolph Link Road, Gonzales, Belmont.

They arrived and saw a silver Nissan Wingroad on the road, with Wadada slumped over on the driver’s side with gunshot wounds to his back.

Crime Scene Officers found 20 9mm spent shell casings, four live rounds of 9mm ammunition and one deformed projectile.

Newsday contacted Uzoma-Wadada by phone on October 24 but she asked for some time to process the incident before speaking.

Newsday also called the director of education and research and retired chair of the Emancipation Support Committee of TT Khafra Kambon who offered his condolences to Uzoma-Wadada and her family.

Kambon said while he did not know Kwesi, he saw him around the committee’s events from time-to-time.

“He was not a member of the organisation, but if anything was happening, being her son, he would help in whatever way he can.

“I do not have any deep knowledge of him.”

On the country’s high murder toll, Kambon said, each individual needs to take responsibility.

“We need to address our minds... and we have to be more involved in the lives of all the young people we possibly can.

“This is becoming an epidemic in society now – young people losing their lives.”

Newsday also contacted Kambon’s son Shabaka, a member of the Emancipation Support Committee of TT and its lead education officer.

Kambon also extended his condolences to Uzoma-Wadada and her family.

He said the country’s current approach to crime is not one that will bear fruit.

“We have to look at crime as the end of a long production line.

“If we do not address the issue higher up in the production line, we will spend money on cars, guns and radars while the issues spiral.”

He said the country needed to look at crime from a historical standpoint.

“We have not done the work to understand what propels crime in our society. Our discourse is at at very basic level.

“We talk about a criminal element and how we are going to fight them without any type of deeper analysis of the history of the problem.”

He asked society to confront their history, understand it and have the “will and moral character” to choose a better future.

Wave of murders over 48 hours

In the North Eastern division two men aged, 22, and 23, were gunned down in El Socorro and San Juan, respectively.

The 22-year-old was identified as Tyrese Ogiste of El Socorro.

Police said around 7.30 pm on October 23, they received a report of gunshots in the area.

They responded and saw Ogiste lying on the road. He had gunshot wounds to his body and was still alive.

They took him to the Eric Williams Medical Science Complex (EWMSC) but he was pronounced dead around 7.55 pm.

The Special Evidence Recovery Unit (SERU) found 14 5.56 spent shell casings and 16 live rounds of 5.56 ammunition.

Another murder was recorded four hours later in the same division, as a 23-year-old man met a similar fate.

Police said around 11.30 pm on October 23, Antonio Craig was liming with a group of people at the corner of 2nd Street and Saddle Road in San Juan.

A man in a black hoodie approached Craig and shot at him.

Craig ran from Saddle Road onto the Eastern Main Road where he collapsed.

Craig was taken to the EWMSC but was pronounced dead at 12.20 am.

North Eastern Division Crime Scene Investigators (CSI) found five .9mm shells at the scene.

In the North, 44-year-old Omari Mc Carty was shot dead in Maloney.

Police said around 9.15 pm on October 23, Mc Carty was standing on the second floor of Building 8 in Maloney Gardens when a gunman dressed in dark clothing walked up to him and shot him several times.

He was hit multiple times and fell to the ground, while the gunman ran off.

Mc Carty was taken to the Arima Health Facility.

Northern Division CSI found 11 9mm spent shells and three metal fragments.

Police said they visited the Arima Health Facility as Mc Carty was listed in a critical condition. He was transferred to the Mount Hope Hospital but died around 1.05 am during emergency surgery.

In Central, two murders were recorded including a 22-year-old man of Venezuelan descent.

Diego Gregorio Alves Machado was shot dead in Carapichaima.

An unidentified man was also shot and killed at Thomas Avenue off Lamont Street, Enterprise, Chaguanas.

As at October 24, the murder toll was 518 compared to 468 at the same date last year.