(Trinidad Express) – A 28-year-old man and his wife were killed on Tuesday morning during an alleged confrontation with police in Enterprise, Chaguanas.
The couple was identified as Anthony St Louis, aka “Bago”, and Niama Alexander, of Walters Lane, Enterprise, Chaguanas.
Police said they believ-ed the two were conspirators in a plot to assassinate the Commissioner of Prisons.
The Express was told that around 5.30 a.m. on Tuesday, officers attached to the Central Division were executing a search warrant for firearms and ammunition when they heard noises coming from the Walters Lane home of St Louis and Alexander.
When the police officers attempted to enter the house, they said they were greeted with gunfire.
Police officers returned fire, and upon opening the door, they found St Louis and Alexander with gunshot injuries about their bodies.
Police said St Louis may have been trying to use his wife as a human shield.
They were taken to the Chaguanas Health Facility where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
A firearm with an extended magazine was found at the scene.
Police also found 620 grammes of narcotics at an abandoned house near the crime scene.
Residents of the area told the Express a different story.
No one admitted to seeing what transpired, but several noted that houses in the area were “so bunched together” that they heard everything.
“When the police arrived, they just opened the door. We heard that. They didn’t announce themselves or anything. They just opened the door and there was a pause. Then there were four shots. Spaced out kind of. After a few seconds, there was another set of gunshots, this time rapid, one after another. Then we heard the baby crying and when we went outside we saw it was the police,” a resident told the Express.
Several others, who did not want to be identified, claimed St Louis and Alexander were fatally shot in front the woman’s three-year-old child.
Senior officers in the Central Division confirmed that a “female toddler” was present at the scene of the shooting and had been taken into the care of the State while arrangements were being made for her to be handed over to relatives.
Residents said they did not believe that St Louis would have used Alexander as a human shield.
They said they were considering protesting the police-involved shootings but eventually decided against it.
“We will hold our hands for now. We want to see what the police say later in the news…They are saying that it’s because they were investigating a threat to kill the Commissioner of Prisons, and then they claim he opened fire first. Nobody else was there to see what happened, and all we could do is hear the commotion…We don’t believe them because from what we heard we didn’t hear them identify themselves or anything. But no one saw what happened. So for now, we will hold our hands. Later or tomorrow may be a different story, but we want to know if they had those body cameras on them and we are asking for the footage to be made public,” a resident said.
Speaking with the Express, Prisons Commissioner Dennis Pulchan said he had been made aware of the allegation that there was a conspiracy to kill him but he was not going to let that distract him.
“Yes, I am aware but I think I’m more concerned about the job that I have to do and those around me than those who wish to stop me from doing that job. Life and death are in God’s hands and I have my faith and my belief in God that everything will work out how it is meant to be. I serve the people of this country and I have a job to do and I will do my job regardless of the insurmountable odds. “There has always been danger in this field and there will continue to be danger in the future. All I can do is do my job to the best of my ability and continue to serve the people of this country,” Pulchan said.
There have been 28 police-involved killings for the year so far.