Two men gunned down in T&T, one while fixing car

(Trinidad Express) Between 6.30 p.m. on Friday and 3 a.m. yesterday two men from north Trinidad were gunned down in what the police described as separate gang-related incidents.

The murder toll stood at 165 last night.

Police said the first murder occurred at Laventille.

Around 6.30 p.m., Kern Fletcher, 31, of Tomasine Street, Laventille, and his friend, Kwame Jones, of Belmont, were fixing a car near Fletcher’s home when two masked men walked up to them and opened fire on Fletcher.

He was hit five times, including one to the head and another to the chest. He died on the scene.

Jones was shot in his leg. He was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital where he was treated and remained there in stable condition last night.

Supt Ajith Persad and Cpl Donovan Thompson of the Besson Street CID visited the scene where they conducted enquiries. A search for the killers was also carried out but the men remained on the run last night.

The other shooting occurred in Diego Martin.

The victim, Jovan Hodge, 24, was liming outside the Agostini Trace, Diego Martin, home of his family with one of his friends, Che Gill, around 3 a.m. yesterday when a gunman walked up to them.

The man pulled a pistol from his waist and opened fire on Hodge. He was shot in his head and chest while Gill was shot in his leg.

Hodge’s father heard the gunshots, came out and saw his son lying on the ground in a pool of blood. He took his son to the St James Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Gill was taken to the hospital and was treated and discharged.

A team of officers led by Insp Henry Dann of the St James CID visited the crime scene. A search for the gunman was carried out but he remained at large up to last night.

Homicide Bureau officers are continuing investigations into both incidents.