(Trinidad Express) Two members of a D’abadie family are now dead after they were shot in broad daylight and in full view of members of the community where they lived.
They were killed in a drive-by shooting committed by gunmen carrying automatic weapons on Saturday afternoon.
Their killings brought the murder toll for the year so far to 392, compared to 365 at the same time last year.
A sombre mood swept the area of John Lane, D’abadie, as some residents appeared to be in shock while others were visibly shaken, after learning of the triple murder of a father, one of his sons and another man as they were about to play a game of cards at the side of the road.
In all, five people were shot.
Two remained at hospital on Saturday night—one in stable condition and the other fighting for his life.
The deceased have since been identified as Frank Joseph, his son Kevin Plaza, and fellow resident Ricardo Singh.
Joseph’s other son, Roger Plaza, remained in critical condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope after he was shot in the head.
A woman identified as Searle Moray was shot in the leg.
While at the scene of the incident, police told reporters new measures will be introduced in the Northern Division to deal with the scourge of criminal activities plaguing Arima and its environs.
Investigating officers said around 3 p.m. all four men were standing along the roadway when a Nissan Tiida car with no licence plate drove by and occupants of the vehicle opened fire.
Murray was in her yard hanging out clothes to dry at the time and was struck by a stray bullet, said officers.
Investigators added that after the shooters opened fire, the group of men attempted to escape but did not make it far.
Joseph and Kevin Plaza collapsed at the scene and died.
The other three were rushed to hospital but Singh was pronounced dead upon arrival.
A clear motive was not immediately established for the murders but police said at least one of the victims had previously been involved in drug-related activities.
It was uncertain if this was what drove the killers to carry out the crime, said the officers.
They added that several residents observed the vehicle and an all-points bulletin was issued and up to Saturday night Northern Division officers were in search of the car.
A resident reported hearing upwards of 50 shots fired in rapid succession, leading officers to believe that a fully automatic assault rifle was used.
Acting Snr Supt McDonald Jacob said he was asking other members of the community who may have witnessed the incident to come forward and assist the police in solving the triple murder.
He described the incident as “ridiculous”.
“The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service will not continue tolerating these sort of murders. Our intention is to take a more proactive approach to deal with this scourge. These murders are actually happening with some measure of impunity so we will introduce methods.
“We are asking the residents of the area of Arima and surroundings to have some measure of tolerance with us because the methods which we will need to introduce may have some type of inconvenience to them but at the end of the day, it is to benefit all the residents of Arima and the surrounding areas,” said Jacob.