Santa Cruz community mourns after triple murder - GOOD MEN TAKEN

RESIDENTS of Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz said the killing of three men on Tuesday night is a blow to the community as the three were viewed as father figures to the area's youth and were not involved in criminal activities.

The killings of Brandon Charles, 36, Dale Alexander, 43, and Brian Perouse, 57, were among four incidents which left six men dead – one in Tobago and five in Trinidad – between 5.35 pm on Tuesday and 8 am on Wednesday.

The other victims are Tobago pensioner Edward Eastman, 68, Trinibad artiste Antonio “Wacko Dan” Reyes, 22, and father of one, Isaiah Prince, 23. Up to press time, the murder toll was 202 according to police, which is 17 more than the figure for the corresponding period last year.

Speaking with Newsday at Mc Carthy Street, Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz where Perouse lived, a group of young men said the three were all “fathers in the community.”

The men said Perouse took it on himself to host football tournaments in the community and would also pay out of his own pockets to transport players to tournaments outside of the community.

“He was no kinda criminal...nothing like that. Is an innocent man get a death he didn't deserve. Saddist, is good fellas, he (Perouse) used to link with all the youths in the back here,” one of the men in the group said.

He added: “Is only fathers they kill last night! Only elders! Good men taken.”

Another interjected saying: “Everybody! Everybody who get killed was only elders. Big man thing here, is only elders they killed...good people, boy.”

Another man in the group, clearly incensed by the triple murder, suggested retaliating in like manner, by going and killing other innocent people, but the other men all said this could never be right and was not the answer.

Two CCTV videos posted to social media and swiftly going viral, showed the men being killed by two masked men both armed with assault rifles. In one video, Perouse and two others were seen seated in a bar when the killers came in.

Perouse, who had a prosthetic left leg, tried to run but fell.

Two other men who were seated beside him ran out and escaped. The killers, after shooting Charles and Alexander, then shot Perous – who lay helplessly on his back – multiple times as they made their way out of the bar.

The other videos, taken from a camera positioned elsewhere in the bar, captured the murders of Charles and Alexander.

Charles was the first person attacked while Alexander, seeing what was taking place, ran under a pool table to avoid being shot.

Charles attempted to defend himself by jumping on one of the shooters but was pushed off and shot as he collapsed. One of the killers stooped and shot Alexander as he hid under the pool table. The other gunman then joined in and shot Alexander before ripping off a chain from his neck.

A fourth man who was shot in the back and buttocks, managed to drive himself to hospital where he was treated and remains warded. Police said the shooting took place at about 11 pm at Webster’s Bar in Cantaro Village.

Not far from where the group of men were standing and speaking with Newsday, were Perouse’s relatives who spoke among themselves reminiscing about the father of five and grandfather of two.

A close female relative, who asked not to be named, said Alexander got the nickname “Tusty” as a child for his love of football.

“He used football to channel camaraderie and kinship in the community. Because of his love for football, any event that they had around, he would sponsor drinks and stuff like that.”

She said Perouse was the fifth of nine children in their family and growing up in such a large household moulded his compassionate nature.

She said all three men knew each other and shared relatives with each other.

“It is not three individuals who were killed, it's more like three brothers who got killed. It is really tough to swallow and really, what were they killed for,” she asked.

Charles' relatives preferred not to speak to reporters at his Pipiol home. Nearby, at Jigga Hill, relatives of Alexander described him as "the saltfish” in that community.

A female relative, who asked not to be named or photographed, said Alexander loved reggae music and because of his dance moves, was given the nickname “Sasky.”

Another female relative revealed that only on Monday, she had been trying to convince a friend to return to Santa Cruz, telling the friend that the area has "cooled down." The friend left the area after the January 15 murder of 29-year-old Denilson “Mellow Dan” Kennedy, who was gunned down outside his Cantaro Village home. “But like I talked too soon,” the woman said.

Alexander, the father of three, was a mason who hardly limed at the bar where he was killed, relatives said, adding his usual liming spot was at a bar closer to his home.

Up to press time, the two gunmen remained at large and no motive has been established.