(Trinidad Express) A four-year-old boy was shot in Petit Valley yesterday morning when disagreement between two neighbours resulted in gunshots being fired.
The boy was with his 50-year-old relative when around 6.30 a.m., they stopped to talk to a resident of Block 9 off Stoer Drive.
The two adults got into an argument which quickly became physical.
The suspect reportedly pulled out a firearm and shot at the relative, hitting him in the leg.
The child was also shot in the palm of his left hand.
The suspect then fled the scene on foot.
The police and paramedics were notified, and the two injured victims were taken to the St James Hospital for treatment.
The boy, police said, did not suffer major injuries.
Officers of the Western Division responded and detained the suspect shortly afterwards.
He was arrested and a firearm, believed to be the same weapon used in the earlier incident, was seized.
When the Sunday Express visited the scene yesterday, residents of the area expressed shock and disgust over the shooting.
They claimed that the boy’s relative and the suspect had a falling out recently, and it was believed that the incident was sparked by this.
“He and (the suspect) had a falling out last year, and they even had a little fight and thing before, with bottles being thrown. And like this morning, he (the relative) was walking down the road, holding the child, and like he throw some talk behind the neighbour, and that start everything. The suspect pulls out a gun and then I hear—pow, pow, pow! Three shots fired.
“Then you hear (the relative) crying out in pain, and you hearing the youth, too. The suspect then just walk off a little way. And was still throwing talk. We take them hospital and that was that.
“He walk back in the home. But he come back out a little while after. He see a man on the road watching him and he ask—what he looking at? He ask the man if he want to get shoot.
“The man tell (the suspect) if he even know he shoot the child. And like he get taken back by that. Like he was in shock and didn’t know. He walk back in the house and he stay there till the police come,” said a resident.
They claimed the suspect was a 64-year-old, and that he had previously threatened other people in the area.
“Whether you feel you right or wrong, because I not saying who was right in the incident before, but what happened today, to me, that is both of them fault. You as an adult not supposed to pick any fights or throw any chat when you are in the care of a child.
“You know how it is out here. You seeing on the news that people are getting shot or killed almost every day. You have to act in a manner that protects not only yourself but the children.
“Now (the suspect) himself is also at fault, if not the most fault. He was the one with the gun and shooting wild. He would have seen the child, but like he just get so angry, it didn’t matter to him.
“And the way he was shooting, anybody could have picked up if more people were on the road at the time.
“I not condoning anything, but you see the man holding the child: you as a man, you as a human being, ought to know that that youth was innocent and had nothing to do with whatever going on with the two of y’all. That was evil behaviour. I not sure if he has any mental illness or what, but that was clearly something evil,” the resident added.
This incident came less than two days after 12-year-old Ezekiel Paria was fatally shot in Laventille on Thursday afternoon.
Paria was said to be liming on the roadway when gunshots rang out.
Suspects in a Toyota Corolla were shooting at a Kia Sorento, which was being driven by a 39-year-old man who had his 15-year-old daughter in the car at the time.
The 39-year-old was shot in this incident, and remained at the Port of Spain General Hospital up to yesterday afternoon.
However, Paria was shot in the head, and died shortly afterwards.
A short distance away, two men were soon held by officers of the Port of Spain Division, led by Sgt Alexander.
A firearm, ammunition, and a quantity of drugs were seized in the vehicle, police said.