(Trinidad Express) Killers went on a rampage last weekend, snuffing out the lives of seven men between Friday night and late yesterday evening.
The latest killing spree has pushed the murder toll for the year so far to 59 in 48 days, according to an Express tally.
Six of those killed have been identified as Kevin “Stumpy” Thomas, 28; Terry Gill, 29; Ronald Nurse, 23; Brent Delcon, 31; Marlon Bradshaw, 41; and Sherman Toussaint, 27.
The seventh man remained unidentified up to press time last night.
Two of the killings took place in Longdenville, two more occurred along St Paul Street, East Dry River, Port of Spain, while the others were in Arima, Maloney and Cocorite.
In the first incident, police said Thomas, of Upper Quarry Street, Diego Martin, was at the car park of an apartment complex along St Paul Street around 7.45 p.m. on Friday when residents reported hearing the sound of gunfire.
A team of officers from the Port of Spain Criminal Investigations Department (CID), led by ASP Ajith Persad along with Sgt Henry and Cpl Budrie, visited the scene and found Thomas dead.
A motive for his killing has not been determined.
Not more than 15 minutes later, Central Division officers responded to a shooting incident along Lamont Street, Longdenville.
At the time, Gill was at home with his wife when he heard someone knocking on the front door, said police.
He proceeded to open the door, after which a man pulled out a gun and shot him five times to the chest.
Gill’s wife, together with neighbours, rushed him to Chaguanas Health Facility, but by the time they arrived he was already dead.
Investigators said they have since classified his death as drug-related as Gill had been arrested several times for possession of narcotics.
In the incident which took place in Arima, police said Delcon, of Seyjagat Trace, Cocorite Road, was walking along the road close to his home around 7.30 p.m. on Saturday when he was approached by a gunman.
The assailant, police said, opened fire, hitting him several times about the body before escaping.
Delcon’s wife found her husband lying along the roadway with bullet wounds about the body. He was taken to Arima District Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Three hours later, at 11.30 p.m., Bradshaw, of Swan Lane, Maloney, was in the process of opening a door to enter his home when a black car pulled up close by and the occupants opened fire on him, said investigators.
Bradshaw was hit to the upper body and died on the spot. The gunmen then sped away.
Detectives said they did not have a clear motive for either killing.
Like Gill, Nurse lived at Lamont Street, Longdenville.
Officers said at around 3.45 a.m. yesterday, he was stabbed to death following a fight at Traxx Bar on Railway Road, Chaguanas.
After the fight, police said, Nurse walked out the bar and was confronted by the man who by that time had armed himself with a knife.
The man ran up to Nurse and stabbed him several times about the body.
Nurse ran a short distance toward Chaguanas Police Station but collapsed and died along the roadway.
A team of officers arrived on the scene, while another team, led by Snr Supt Deodath Dulalchan and Supt Johnny Abraham, went in search of the suspect and later found him at the home of a friend in Montrose, Chaguanas.
The knife believed to have been used in the attack was also recovered, said police.
Officers said they were unable to say if Nurse’s killing was linked to Gill’s.
And yesterday evening, officers from both the Western and Port of Spain divisions responded to separate murders in Cocorite and the East Dry River.
Shortly before 5 p.m., Sherman Toussaint, of Harding Place, Cocorite, was shot dead close to his home.
Residents reported hearing five loud explosions before finding Toussaint lying dead along the roadway.
Around the same time, Port of Spain detectives were called to St Paul Street, where they found the body of a man whose identity was not immediately available.
He was shot multiple times about the body.
Up to press time last night, homicide detectives, officers of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) together with Crime Scene investigators were processing the scenes for clues.
Homicide detectives are continuing investigations into the latest killings.
