Belmont man killed in gang war

Relatives of a Belmont man who was shot dead on February 17 believe he was the victim of an ongoing gang war in the community.

Around 11.40 am, Marvin Phillip, of Vincent Brown Street, Gonzales, went to Walcott Lane near Belle Eau Road to collect a drill for work.

He was confronted by three armed men and moments later residents reported hearing several gunshots.

They saw Phillip lying in the road with gunshot wounds.

A bystander took him to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at around 12.45 pm.

Hours later, police arrested a suspect and seized a gun they believe was used in the murder.

Port of Spain Division head Snr Supt Thom and ASP Soodeen led the response along with Sgt Guerra and acting Sgt Sookhoo from the Port of Spain Task Force, Sgt Seecheeran from the Homicide Bureau and Sgt Maslier from the CID.

Police found two 7.62 spent shells.

Phillip’s family, on February 18, at the Forensic Science Centre in St James, said they are thankful someone has been arrested but wary about what may happen next as they noted criminal cases are strung along in the courts for years.

“Yes we are (happy), but we want justice.”

A male relative said he believed he will get justice even if the courts were slow to deliver it.

“They will pay for it when the time comes. I believe in God so I know they will end up the same way. The same pain they share, they will feel it.”

He said Phillip was a casualty of the ongoing war between the Sixx and Seven gangs.

He explained Phillip lived near the border of both gangs’ territory in Gonzales, but he was not affiliated with any of them.

Despite this, he was shot in a drive by shooting last year, and narrowly escaped with his life.

“About four months ago he was just liming out the road by the shop, but with this Sixx and Seven thing, a car with gunmen passed to see who they know and they see him outside.

“He got shot hit five times in his foot. He didn’t even heal from that as yet.”

They believe the ongoing gang war was the motive for his murder.

“They saw him in Belmont and knew where he was from, so they killed him.”

The relative added Phillip’s situation was not an uncommon one facing people in gang-infested areas.

“Normally when a car from one block passes another block, and they see anybody doing anything, they just hitting you bullets. It could be anybody out there, and they will get shoot same way.”

Another relative said gang warfare has reached a point where it affects their routes to and from home and the clothes they wear.

“I have a Cristiano Ronaldo jersey with his number (seven) on the back and I can’t even wear that again because they might think you’re a gang member, even if you don’t have a clue what’s going on in the place. You just wearing your jersey because you like it but you can’t even do that again.”

He described the gang war as a “useless waste of time” and accused the gang members of seeking infamy.

“It’s just a bunch of idle people who just want to make a name for themselves. It ent really making any sense, this Sixx and Seven thing. It’s a bunch of just useless, headless chickens running wild.

“When you lose a loved one to the violence, it not nice to feel the pain so why do it to somebody else family?”

Despite the stranglehold the gangs have placed on their lives, the family say they cannot afford to leave the area and they have resigned themselves to just being careful.

“If we had a chance to leave we would move out, but it ent really making sense because we have nowhere to go.

“This war going to be there right through. It ent going to stop because any time they see somebody (from a rival area), they doing what they think they have to do.”

A female relative said the proximity of the gangs is a problem and people who live near territorial borders are affected the most.

Highlighting the situation where some of Phillip’s relatives live at Chocolate Alley in Laventille, she said the only possible solution is more police patrols.

“That is an area where the top of the hill is controlled by Seven and at the bottom of the hill, where the police post is, is controlled by the Sixx gang.

“The police drive around sometimes but when you looking for them you not seeing any. And you can’t go to them down the hill because people asking you, ‘What you doing down here?’ because they looking to kill you.”

The male relative said Phillip’s murder has affected his perspective on the effectiveness of the state of emergency (SoE).

“It was making sense because you weren’t really hearing anything happening like how it was before where every night you were hearing people dying. It calmed down but like that effect is starting to fade away now.”

Another relative said she never agreed with the SoE, adding it is pointless without enough police to consistently patrol hotspots.