(Trinidad Express) “Greed and jealousy”.
These were the reasons relatives of Reynold Victor—who was killed on Tuesday near the Croisee in San Juan—gave as to why Victor was shot dead and his mother’s Morvant house firebombed on Wednesday.
Speaking with the Express yesterday, relatives said they had been made aware of the Express report in which police said Victor’s killing and the subsequent attack of his mother’s home in Second Caledonia, Morvant, were because of a gang war for CEPEP contracts.
They claimed this was not so.
But when they were asked why the family was being targeted, one relative said: “It was out of greed and jealousy.
“It’s simple right now. We have things, we have a lifestyle and they not getting any, so they have targeted us as a result. It was out of greed and jealousy. Everyone is saying it’s because of this and that, and giving their opinions, but it’s all just lies, as far as we are concerned.”
Victor’s relatives asked not to be named because they said they were living in fear that other members of their family may be targeted.
The family also called on the police to work quickly to bring the killers to justice and to find the people who torched the home on Wednesday morning.
However, senior police officials informed the Express that from their information, the uptick in violence in the area was due to gang leaders waging war over CEPEP contracts.
Victor was fatally shot in San Juan in an incident which also left one woman in critical condition and two men injured when gunmen opened fire on Victor at Second Street.
Victor was the brother of one of the gang leaders involved in the war for contracts.
Police confirmed the ongoing conflict between the two gang leaders currently in jail on murder charges.
Jelissa Payne, 35, was injured while three other people—Petra Manette, Joel Warner, 40, and Earl Branch, 59—were also injured when gunmen shot Victor on Tuesday morning.
The following day, Victor’s home at Vegas, Second Caledonia Extension, Morvant, was firebombed. His 65-year-old mother was at home at the time.
She was not injured.
She told police she saw a group of ten men running towards her property—a large peach-coloured concrete structure.
CCTV footage showed at least ten men running towards the house.
One man is seen carrying a plastic beer crate filled with Molotov cocktails, while another is seen standing guard with an assault rifle.
The others grab Molotov cocktails from out of the crate, light them and throw them against the house, setting part of it on fire.
Police said the men tried breaking into the house, but were unable to. The men are then seen running south along Second Caledonia Extension Road.
Police said Victor’s mother and four other relatives were able to escape from the house, and were staying at an unknown location.
A white Toyota Aqua car, which was parked on the southern side of the road, appeared to be bullet-riddled.
The vehicle was wrecked and taken to the Morvant Police Station.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Curt Simon, speaking with the Express on Wednesday, confirmed only that it was an ongoing gang war from behind prison walls
