4 shot in Diego, 3 dead, police kill 1 in Beetham

A spate of shootings in Diego Martin on Friday left three men dead within a 24-hour period.

Thirty-nine-year-old Sherwin Carter, of Blue Basin Road, Diego Martin, was shot and killed on Friday around 9.25 am. He was at his home with his sister-in-law and her children when the shooting occurred.

Carter left his home to go to a nearby river to fill a bucket of water. However, his family heard arguing outside the house when he left and the woman checked the home CCTV cameras and saw Carter fighting with three men.

The woman told police she hid in the bathroom with her children and she heard a loud banging on the bathroom door. A man's voice demanded she come out or they would kill her 14-year-old son.

She was taken to the living room, where she saw a badly beaten Carter. The woman's hands were tied and the suspects demanded they hand over money. She directed the suspects to a draw with her Bible, which had $29,000. The suspect also stole jewellery from the drawer.

Before leaving, the suspects and Carter began arguing and one of the men pulled out a gun and shot Carter three times.

The men fled on foot, and the woman untied herself and called the police. Officers arrived and found Carter unresponsive. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Later on Friday, around 6.45 pm, Josiah Cooke was shot and killed at Quarry Street, also in Diego Martin.

In a separate incident that occurred around 10.30 pm at Mercer Road, two men were shot.

Kerron Waldron died from his injuries, while Levi "Max" Gabriel was warded. Both men, residents of Quarry Street, were standing in a parking lot at the corner of Diego Martin Main Road and Mercer Street when a station wagon pulled up and its occupants opened fire on them.

They were taken to the St James Medical Complex, where Waldron later succumbed to his injuries.

In a separate incident early Saturday morning, Kerrance Burton was shot dead by police at Beetham Gardens.

Reports say three officers from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) were on patrol when they saw two men running near 10th Street.

The officers claimed they ran after the men and allege Burton pointed a gun at them before hiding in a track between 10th and 11th Streets.

The report claimed Burton fired at the officers and they returned fire.

Burton was taken to Port of Spain General Hospital, where he later died.

Police said they recovered a Beretta pistol, 12 rounds of ammunition and a quantity of cocaine from his possession.