(Trinidad Express) The 2022 murder toll has reached 400 and climbing.
Last year at this time 254 people had been murdered.
In November last year, the country’s murder toll crossed 400 in November, while the year before in 2020 the entire toll for the year was 394.
Contacted for comment yesterday, acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob said he could not yet comment on a figure that he is not sure about.
The latest murder occurred yesterday morning in Petit Valley.
Police said, shortly before 9 a.m., residents of Upper Simeon Road, Petit Valley, heard several gunshots. When they investigated they saw two men running from the home of Nigel “Bulls” Headley. They investigated further and found Headley lying in front of the door to the house with multiple gunshots to his back and head. He died on the scene.
According to Jacob, what the press may have reported as a murder may not actually be one.
“Sometimes there may be a killing but then there may be a situation where this case may have to go to an inquest,” he said. In Trinidad and Tobago an inquest is a judicial enquiry to ascertain the facts relating to an incident and is conducted at the level of a magistrate’s court.
Jacob said he will meet with the Homicide Bureau today.
Admitting on his end that the murder toll was close to the 400 figure, he said, “I can only respond when I am sure it is the figure as my numbers may be different from yours.”