Reprisals feared after St Barb's man gunned down

BELMONT police are bracing for reprisal killings after a Laventille man was shot dead in St Barb's on November 19.

Around 9.45 am Nefta “Nappy” Charles of Sandy Trace, Upper St Barb's, Laventille, was standing in the road near his home when a grey Kia Sportage SUV stopped nearby.

Men armed with high-powered automatic rifles got out and fired several shots at Charles, who fell to the ground. The gunmen got back into the SUV, which sped off.

Eyewitnesses later said it was clear Charles was the target, since others who were liming with him were unharmed. He was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A senior officer told Newsday Charles was well-known in the St Barb's area and they fear his murder may trigger further violence.

“Any time we have murders in certain areas of certain, let's say, members (of society) we brace for reprisals," a senior police source said. The officer said  in the wake of Charles's murder, the police have taken certain measures to try and maintain law and order in the area.

“When there is a murder, especially where it is possible that it may have been gang-related, strategies are put in place.”

The officer added there will be police patrols 24 hours daily and police resources are being added to ensure these patrols.

“There are other units giving assistance in the area as well, patrolling and trying to keep the peace. The area is properly covered at all times to ensure the safety and security of members of the public, who can go about their daily chores and errands as they see fit.”

Charles' murder was one of several in the Port of Spain area and its surrounding communities in the past few months.

Around 9.10 pm on November 14, 24-year-old Tyreke Birch was killed while attending the wake for three men – Josiah John, 21, Kadeem Andrews, 22, and 28-year-old Algernon Ryan – who themselves were killed on November 12.

Kwesi Wadada, 42, the son of Zakiya Uzoma-Wadada, the chair of the Emancipation Support Committee, was gunned down while driving on October 23.

On October 13, 19-year-old Shundell Barrow was shot 20 times just after midnight near his father’s home in Gonzales, Belmont.

On September 27, two men were shot on Serraneau Road and hours later, police flushed out the suspects from a drain they were hiding in, opposite St Francois Girls' College. One of the suspects, who was shot during the incident, later died while being treated at hospital.