(Trinidad Express) With eight persons being murdered in separate incidents over the long Christmas weekend, Commissioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs yesterday expressed concern over the incidents but assured the police will continue to do all in their power to deal with such incidents.
The eight killings occurred between last Friday and yesterday in Valencia, Maracas/St Joseph, Claxton Bay, San Fernando, Laventille, Aranjuez and Caroni.
Two of the victims, one of them a woman, were stabbed, while the other six were shot during separate incidents.
The dead people have been identified as army Sgt George Sheldon Froix, Sheldon “Nippy” Gillman, Kern “Chucky” Mitchell, Anil Bhagwandass, Brent Dickson, Noel Marcano, Amanda Phillip and Krishandath “Trudy” Ramesar.
Gibbs spoke with the Express during a brief telephone interview shortly after returning to the country from an overseas trip.
Gibbs said he hadn’t had a chance to catch up with what has transpired in the country during his absence but gave the undertaking the police will continue to work with the various stakeholders to provide effective and efficient policing.
He said at the end of 2011, the country would have recorded a lower crime rate and he intends to maintain this with the possibility of taking the rate to an even lower level compared to the past years.
Gibbs said: “At the moment I’m not in a position to say anything since I’m trying to get up to speed with all that has transpired during my absence so I’m not in a position to take any questions.
He added, “We are hoping to expand on all of our policing initiatives especially dealing with the 21st Century Policing Initiative. My wish for 2012 is to have crime way down in the sense that we see people trying to work together and not solving their differences by killing each other and for the country to flourish economically and politically.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner in charge of Anti-Crime, Operations, Mervyn Richardson, said yesterday the police have recognised that within the past two weeks many of the homicides committed were a result of conflict between several parties.
He said the issue of people being unable to find effective ways in settling disputes is one of serious concern and must be addressed by individuals themselves.
He said, “We are concerned that within the last two weeks we have seen a marginal increase in homicides. We are investigating every incident and I could tell you that several of them are expected to be completed within the earliest possible time.
“Every life lost is a concern to us and one too many as we remain in this all-time-low in homicides and it’s unfortunate what happened in East Port of Spain last week at the Trou Macaque, Laventille, Plannings.
“I want to assure the public that we are doing all in our power to ensure their safety and security. We also want to thank them for calling in and providing us with information in solving homicides and crimes and urge them to continue doing so.
“As we move into the pre-Carnival season, there would be an even greater police visibility throughout the country.”
The latest killing occurred at Forres Park, Claxton Bay, where Ramesar was shot by unknown assailants while liming at the side of the roadway. Ramesar was shot twice about his body and once in his head a stone’s throw away from where he lived at Allarack Road, Caratal Road.
His family believe persons who were jealous of Ramesar, who worked as a farmer and a watchman, chose to end his life.
Witnesses told police that around 9 p.m. that a gunman wearing a ski mask on his face and with a hat with a headlamp emerged from a track leading to Allarack Road where Ramesar was liming and shot him.
The gunman then walked away from the scene.
Ramesar was at the time liming and drinking on the road with his sister, Rekha Ragoonath, friend Anthony Rampersad and neighbour Indradeo Pulchan.
Ragoonath, who turned 17 yesterday, said when she saw the gunman she initially wanted to run because she thought he looked strange.
Ragoonath said: “This guy came out wearing a ski mask and a hunting light on his head. At first he just flashing around in the bushes and trees so we thought it was a hunter. We usually would see persons with head lamps, but the ski mask was not normal. But when he reached about eight or nine feet away from Trudy he just started to shoot and my brother fell to the ground. He (the killer) didn’t look at us or anything. He just went up to him and shot him again to make sure he died. Then he just walked back from where he came, he didn’t run away”.
The family rushed Ramesar to the Couva Health Facility but he was pronounced dead on arrival there.
His mother, Sumatee Ragoonath, said her son was set up by persons whom he knew. “My son didn’t interfere with anybody unless someone interfered with him,” she said.
Ramesar served one year in jail in 1999 for stealing, his family said.
Between 8.30 p.m. on Saturday and 1 a.m. on Christmas Day, there were three more killings.
Bhagwandass, a 35-year-old watchman, was riding his bicycle along Abuckle Trace, Caroni, when a man walked up to him and shot him about the body. He fell and died on the roadway, police said.
His killing is believed to be as a result of old argument he had with another man over a quantity of cocaine, police said.
Dickson, 33, of Soogrim Trace, Laventille, was gunned down around 12.30 a.m., on Christmas Day. Officers from the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) responded to reports of a shooting in the area.
When they got to the scene they found Dickson with a gunshot wound to the head and chest lying dead next to a community centre. Police believe his murder was gang related.
Marcano, 55, is believed to have been murdered around 1 a.m. the same day on the compound of a garbage disposal company at Patraj Trace, off the Don Miguel Road Extension, El Socorro, south.
The victim, who police said was employed as a watchman, and also lived on the premises, was seen arguing with two men who are believed to have murdered him.
One of the suspects is believed to have stabbed Marcano twice in the chest, killing him on the spot.
The men later went to the Barataria Police Station and claimed they “found” Marcano dead in a guard booth on the compound.
Army Sgt Froix, 40, and Mitchell, 24, an Arima resident, were gunned down while liming at D’Rum Shop bar in Valencia early on Saturday. Russell Samlal, another patron at the bar, was also shot and critically injured.
And in the first incident, which occurred at Upper Wharf Trace, Maracas/St Joseph around 8.45 p.m., Gillman, 35, of Prizgar Lands, Laventille, was shot 16 times about the body while liming at Upper Wharf Trace.
He died at the scene and his killing was described by police as being linked to a dispute he had with a drug dealer within the North Eastern Division.
