TTPS offers $100k reward, but still no arrests in Port of Spain General Hospital bloodbath

POLICE are offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of people responsible for the shootings on June 2 in Gonzales, Belmont and at the Port of Spain General Hospital (PoSGH) which left four people dead and two others injured.

Police reports said a group of men was liming near a school in Gonzales, Belmont after a game of football.

Without warning, gunmen arrived in a car and began shooting. One man was killed and several others injured.

The injured men were taken to the PoSGH, but moments after their arrival, masked gunmen also reached the hospital in a car.

While relatives of the wounded men and medics were trying to get the victims into the hospital's Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, the gunmen got out of their car and opened fire.

Three men were killed at the hospital and another man was shot and wounded.

National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds revealed the amount of the reward while speaking at a press conference at the ministry’s office on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain.

He also offered condolences to the friends and families of the people who died in the shootings and to the entire Gonzales community.

“Not only do I extend condolences but I also extend peace and comfort to the members of the entire community…in which I was born and grew.

“I played football in the same compound where they would have played before the shooting.”

The Prime Minister also extended condolences to the families of the victims.

In a post on his Facebook page on June 4, Rowley described the incident as “wanton, indiscriminate and purposeful.”

He said criminals had “no real trepidation over consequences and little expectation that they will be identified, arrested, convicted and ultimately properly incarcerated.”

Rowley echoed statements by Hinds on the night of the shooting that citizens who have information on crimes need to come forward and give that information to the police.

“It goes without saying that the effectiveness of policing will be considerably improved if citizens share pertinent information through the many anonymous channels.

Rowley said the time has come, if not long passed, for the entire society to review its relationship with the criminal element.

“The expected swift processing in the court system instead of managed automatic delays, will help to close the revolving doors, oiled by the many rights that are constantly being abused by persons who show no concern for the rights of the majority who are constantly preyed upon.”

He called on the opposition to engage in bipartisan discussions over crime-fighting legislation.

“The government continues to stand ready to discuss this and similar initiatives with our parliamentary colleagues if only they will see it as their job too.”

Senior police officials meanwhile say they are actively pursuing leads in the June 2 shootings.

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said the hospital has given CCTV footage of the shooting to the police.

“Our camera system was able to pick up the vehicle number and get good footage of the assailants. I will say no more on that, but it has been turned over to the police.”

It is unclear how useful the footage will be though as one senior police official told Newsday the licence plate on the car was false and the assailants all wore masks.

Despite this, the police are following all available leads in the hunt for the suspects.

“Police are in the process of gathering all available pieces of evidence and taking action steps to pursue leads provided through intelligence and other technical sources which include CCTV,” said the officer.

“We actively pursue all leads as a matter of routine in all matters. We look for all evidential leads.”

28 MURDERS SOLVED FOR 2024

Hinds at June 4’s press conference said the police are taking a hard-line approach to the possession of illegal guns as it is fuelling crime.

Hinds said guns have become the weapon of choice for killers as he pointed to the 53 double murders in 2023.

Looking as far back as 2016, Hinds said, of the 464 murders in that year, 75 per cent of them were committed with a gun.

“In 2016 there were also 286 wounding and shootings. So everyone of that 286 could have resulted in a murder and if it did they would have had to add that number to 464.

“In 2021, there were 1,868 robberies of which 1,594 or 85 per cent were with guns,” he added.

Hinds said, “Firearms play a major role in the mayhem that we have to contend with and this is why government has laid down a plan in place to go on a serious gun retrieval exercise.

He said the police are using intelligence and need the public’s help to lock up people and cleanse society of the scourge of illegal firearms.

Of the 242 murders so far for the year, 28 of them have been solved.

Homicide head Rishi Singh confirmed to Newsday that 31 people have been charged for 28 of the murders in 2024.

These 31 are among 45 people charged for murder this year.

Of the remaining 14 people, 12 had been charged for murders in 2023, one person had been charged for a 2022 murder and one other person had been charged for a 2021 murder.

According to TTPS data, as at May 31, 2023, the murder toll also stood at 242.