(Trinidad Guardian) It was a traumatic morning for a Mayaro family on Monday, after armed bandits stormed their home. However, a quick response from police left four of seven gunmen dead.
Acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob confirmed last evening that Eastern Division police were searching for three other suspects who escaped through bushes after police killed four of their cohorts.
Police said one of the victims, the owner of a Chinese restaurant, left his home in the gated Krista Park community to drop his daughter to school but when he returned home around 9.30 am, he found his wife and 17-year-old son on the ground with their hands tied and tape over their mouths. The gunmen approached him within seconds and ordered him to the floor.
However, police had already received a tip-off about the home invasion and officers from the Mayaro Police Station, Eastern Division Task Force and Emergency Response Patrol entered the premises within minutes.
On approaching, the bandits shot at the officers, who retaliated with gunfire of their own, killing four of the men.
Three other bandits ran through the back and jumped over the fence at the back of the community. Police said the bandits entered the property by jumping over a wall on the eastern side.
Residents were said to be traumatised by the incident, as the bandits remained on the compound for hours before they were ordered removed by the DMO.
Jacob said none of the victims suffered injuries before or during the shootout. The bandits did not escape with any of the family’s belongings.
Jacob said police were using an Active Directed Grid Patrol method to secure their district. He said the responding officers were therefore already out on strategic patrols and were able to respond in quick time.
“This is what we are doing now. Every division will develop in such a way to handle situations on its own and we will give them the tools and resources to manage, and we will hold the divisional commanders accountable. Yes, other sections will come into support, but divisions will have the autonomy to manage themselves; simply meaning that we are moving away from sectionalisation to divisional work,” Jacob said.
Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds commended the Police Service while contributing to the 2023 Budget yesterday, saying that everyone should note its success in its response to crime.
“You saw it in La Romain. You saw it again this morning in Mayaro. Everyone in this country must know the police are on high alert, highly trained, ready and responsive, and I want to commend the Police Service for the kind of work in standing in defence of the people of Trinidad & Tobago,” Hinds said.
Yesterday’s incident came less than two weeks after police killed Greg Dodough, 21, Kyle Ramdhan, 23, Keyon Ramdhan, 22 and Deaundre Montrose, 22, in a shootout on September 19. The shootout occurred minutes after the men murdered Allied Security Services’ estate constables Jerry Peters and Jeffrey Stuart outside Pennywise Plaza in La Romain.
The four bandits were among six who opened fire on the officers’ pick-up, after they collected cash at Pennywise Cosmetics. The shooting also left Estate Constable Peola Baptiste with life-threatening injuries.