(Trinidad Express) A double homicide in Wallerfield over a cow, killings in Carenage, Pleasantville and late yesterday on Henry Street in Port of Spain have pushed the murder toll to 477 for the year.
For the same period last year, the toll was 330.
In North Trinidad, the three persons shot dead in separate incidents in Wallerfield and Carenage on Wednesday night are Sheldon Lewis, Sean Dalipsingh and Victor Mills.
The man shot dead in Port of Spain yesterday has been identified as Anthony Smart of Upper Wharton Street in Laventille. Around 5.30 p.m. people walking along Henry Street, in the vicinity of the Drag Mall, heard gunshots. A masked man was seen fleeing the scene with a firearm in his hand.
Smart, a known salesman in the area, was observed lying on the ground in a pool of blood. A masked man which fit the description of the suspect was found by police a short distance away. The man allegedly pulled out a gun and officers responded by shooting at him, hitting him in the leg. He dropped the gun, which was then seized by the police.
He was then taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where he remained in a stable condition under police guard last night.
Wednesday night killing spree
Regarding the other earlier killings, around 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the Western Main Road in Carenage, residents of the area heard gunshots and, upon investigating, they observed a man lying in a pool of blood on the northern side of the roadway, in the vicinity of the Fish Fry.
The police were notified, and a team of officers led by Cpl Mark responded.
An estimated 12 spent 9mm shells were found on the scene of the shooting.
Lewis and Dalipsingh were shot dead in the vicinity of Block #3 Road in Wallerfield about two hours earlier.
According to police reports, residents of the area heard gunshots around 9.15 p.m.
When they checked, they did not observe anything amiss. However, they heard dogs along the roadway barking.
They soon found the two friends lying on the ground.
Both Lewis and Dalipsingh, 36, appeared to have been shot multiple times.
The police were notified, and a team of officers led by Insp Sylvester, Insp White, Sgt Smith, Sgt Nanhoo and Cpl Bushell, among others, responded.
When the Express visited the scene of the shooting yesterday, residents expressed shock over the killings.
They claimed the two had recently gotten into a disagreement with a neighbour, and this is what is believed to have resulted in the double homicide.
“Them boys not in anything. They does just farm, and normal otherwise. This whole thing come out ’cause them and a neighbour keep having a back-and-forth here over a cow. The man has the animal just roaming and it keeps on getting into the farmer’s gardens and eating crops.
“They talk to (name called) about this several times, but he never take them on. Then they start to argue over it, because in this guava season, every crop lost is money lost. And that’s understandable. But them boys, on Tuesday they went and take it a bit too far.
“They went and talk to the man one last time, but as usual, he eh take them on. So them boys went and slaughtered the cow. And they keep the meat for themselves,” the Express was told by Jeremy Ali, a resident of the area.
Crime scene investigators recovered nine spent 9mm shells, as well as two 40mm shells.
