Police shoot at homeless man, woman's car hit by stray bullets

A woman and four children narrowly escaped injury on November 30 after a bullet shattered her car window when police shot a homeless man.

Around 12.20 pm, police responded to a report of a man at the park near Sackville Street, opposite the Wrightson Road fire station, throwing stones at people.

A team of officers arrived and a junior officer approached the man.

The officer identified himself, told the man of the reports, and warned him to stop throwing the stones.

However, instead of stopping, the man turned his attention to the officer and began throwing stones at him instead.

The officer was hit in his chest and left arm and sustained injuries.

Concerned about his and his colleagues’ safety, the officer drew his police-issued firearm and shot twice at the man.

At the same time, a woman driving a white AD Wagon east along Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, was about to turn left onto Charles Street Extension opposite the fire station when she saw the commotion and heard a loud explosion.

The front left window of her car shattered and she saw smoke coming from the engine.

She stopped on Sackville Street and made sure the four children in the car with her were unharmed.

She got out of the car and also noticed her left indicator light broken and saw what appeared to be a bullet hole in the front left door.

Additional officers arrived shortly afterwards and used a taser to subdue the man.

He was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital (PoSGH) along with the injured officer.

The officer was discharged from the hospital while the suspect remains warded pending the results of a blood test.

He is expected to be taken to the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital to be assessed.

Ag/Cpl Felix continuing inquiries.

Meanwhile, officers have arrested a Diego Martin woman who they believe knocked down a pedestrian on Ariapita Avenue and drove off.

The victim, a 30-year-old man from Dibe Road in St James, was crossing near Ana Street around 4.10 am on December 1, when he was hit.

Police were at a nearby intersection when they saw a white Honda Vezel SUV speed past them.

The SUV swerved past the officers’ vehicle and hit the pedestrian, who flew several feet into the air and landed a few metres away.

Despite the collision, the driver did not stop.

The officers called an ambulance and chased after the SUV.

They eventually intercepted the vehicle near the Hasely Crawford Stadium at the intersection of Maraval Parkway and the Audrey Jeffers Highway.

The driver was stopped and questioned before she was taken into custody.

The victim was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital where he remains warded in stable condition.

On November 30, less than 12 hours after a Couva man was found dead in his car in Gonzales, police in the area seized a high-powered rifle from an abandoned house.

On November 29, 38-year-old Gwen Boodhan, of Dow Village, California, was found slumped in the driver's seat of his white wagon along Gloster Lodge Road, near Gonzales at around 11.40 pm with what appeared to be gunshot wounds to his head.

Around 11 am, on November 30, officers on patrol, led by Cpl Mohammed, received reports of a man in Gonzales who was seen holding a gun.

The officers went to the area and saw a man dressed in black, standing at the top of a hill with a gun in his hand.

When the man saw the marked police vehicle, he turned around and walked away quickly, escaping through a nearby yard.

Officers searched the yard but the man was nowhere to be found.

Police, while searching a dilapidated, abandoned house nearby, found an AR-15 Rifle with one magazine and 11 rounds of 5.56 ammunition hidden behind an old wardrobe.

No one was arrested in connection with the rifle.

Northern division officers meanwhile continue to search for the person who shot a Santa Cruz teenager while he was walking along a track near his home.

The 18-year-old from Cantaro Village, Upper Santa Cruz was walking along a dirt track at around 7.30 pm when he saw two men standing in the track.

He continued walking and heard the men call out to him.

The victim turned around and looked at the men, but he knew neither of them, so he kept walking.

Moments later he heard a loud explosion and felt a burning sensation in his leg.

He turned around again, saw one of the men had a gun in his hand, and began running away from the shooter.

The victim stumbled and fell, though, as he was in pain and unable to run.

He looked at his leg and saw blood pouring from a wound on his left thigh.

He then crawled along the track calling for help as he tried to escape the gunman.

The shooter ran off, and the teenager was able to make his way to the road, where he was helped by a passer-by who took him to hospital.

Officers are also searching for a man who robbed a 73-year-old woman in MovieTowne.

The El Socorro woman was on the compound near the food court around 9.30 pm when she saw a group of five young men loitering nearby.

The men approached her and one snatched a gold bracelet valued $3,000 from her wrist.

They then ran off in different directions.

A party of officers led by Sgt Linton were on mobile patrol and responded to the report.

They searched the compound and nearby areas but were unable to find anyone matching the description of the thief.

Police, though, were able to recover CCTV footage and officers have identified the suspect.

WPC Juman is continuing enquiries.