(Trinidad Express) Residents of Bertie Road and surrounding areas at Five Rivers in Arouca on Saturday breathed a sigh of relief after police shot and killed the most wanted man in the Northern Division during an alleged shoot-out.
Kelvin ‘Chicken’ Gibbs, 28, who was wanted by both police and criminals, died at the Arima District Hospital after he was shot multiple times in the chest by officers of the Northern Division Task Force.
“For far too long, we lived in fear up here in our village. We could not go outside and when we hear gunshots, the most we could have done was duck, run and hide. You could not even have a casual conversation with the police because if he boys spot you, you is ah dead man.”
“Well Arouca would be quiet now; shops would open now and everybody could go about their business now that he dead. The police have to now go and find other members of his gang. Plenty of them were Chicken’s shooters,” a Five Rivers resident told the Sunday Express in a telephone interview.
Around 12.45 pm on Saturday, officers of the Northern Division Task Force, under the supervision of Snr Supt Stephen Ramsubhag, Cpl Jerry and PCs Khan and Joseph and other officers, went to execute a search warrant at a house in Upper Bertie Road for guns and ammunition.
Officers said as they approached the house, several men who were standing guard fled into nearby bushes. Some officers gave chase while others stormed the premises and were allegedly greeted by gunfire as Gibbs sprung up from a bed he was lying on.
Police said they returned fire and when the shooting subsided, Gibbs was discovered lying on the bed nursing gunshot wounds about the body and died in hospital.
Gibbs, police said, was being sought by officers of the Homicide Investigations Task Force of the Special Anti-Crime Unit, particularly, for the murder of eight-year-old Quainta and the shooting of the victim’s sister, Denisha.
Gibbs, police said, was also a known to be involved in trafficking of guns and drugs and was fingered in multiple homicides and shootings in the Northern Division.
On January 14 of this year, Quainta, a student of Dinsley Government Primary School in Trincity, and her sister were at their home on the corner of Eight Street and Range Road, Five Rivers, in Arouca, when Gibbs and other suspect entered and opened fire on them.
Quainta was shot six times about the body and died at the scene while Denisha sustained gunshot injuries to the back. The incident was classified as drug and gang related after Gibbs and a close male relative of Quainta had a verbal dispute over drug turf in the Arouca district.
He was also linked to the January murders of Ryan ‘Papa’ Ramsaroop, 28, of Mayaro, who was shot dead while at a beach in the area; Ryan Wong, 34, of Cumuto Main Road; and Tracy Springer, 21, of San Raphael, who were found shot in a car at Boodoo Highway, Sangre Grande.
