(Trinidad Guardian) An early morning shooting at a popular liming spot in Sangre Grande has left two people dead and two others fighting for their lives at the hospital after undergoing emergency surgeries.
The shooting took place at Lounge 69, Eastern Main Road, Guaico, Sangre Grande, around 1.30 am.
The dead men have been identified as Ricky Roopnarine, also called “Shorley”, 43, and Kendell Hodges, 39, of Coalmine, Sangre Grande.
Roopnarine was seen lying motionless on the pavement with several gunshot wounds to his body. District Medical Officer Dr A Rampersad ordered the removal of the body to the Sangre Grande Hospital mortuary, pending an autopsy tomorrow. The other victim, who was shot in the abdomen and left side of his body, was pronounced dead at 3:22 am while receiving treatment at the Sangre Grande Hospital.
Adriel Pablo, 28, of Toco Main Road, Sangre Grande, and Yulie Nunez, 23, a Venezuelan national who were both shot, underwent emergency surgery at the hospital and were reportedly “fighting for their lives” up until yesterday evening.
When Guardian Media visited the home of Kendell’s mother, Debra Hodges, at George Karim Street, Sangre Grande, the grieving woman said she was yet to be convinced that her son, whom she spoke to hours before, was dead.
She said she spoke to him after lunch on Friday at Sangre Grande and played with his face, asking him how he was looking so nice. She described him as her “eyeball”.
Reminding him to answer the phone when she calls, Hodges said he told her he had a new phone and that when he gets to work at Lounge 69, where he has been working as a DJ since it opened, he will call her. “That was the last conversation I had with my loving son, and I never believed that he was going to die. I never received any call (from him), but the call I received around 2 am on Saturday was that ‘Kendell is dead.’”
She walked to the Sangre Grande Hospital along with a relative and then waited patiently to see if it was her son lying in the Casualty Department under a white sheet. When the sheet was removed, Hodges “rushed towards him, played with him, and kissed him on his face.”
The nurse then took her to a room and gave her a wallet with money, a gold chain, a watch, and a gold ring that was found on Kendell. Hodges said she cried.
Kendell told his mother that he applied for jobs all over but was unable to find employment. So he worked as a DJ at Lounge 69 and told her, “I can buy food and clothing to support myself instead of depending on you.”
Hodges pleaded with the killers to put down the guns and “get the right target before killing innocent people.”
She added, “My son never drank or got involved in any criminal activity. He is always occupied with something constructive. He loved music, and he died loving music.”
According to a police report, around 1 am two slim-built men, armed with firearms, were seen along the roadway, and several loud explosions were later heard.
A person who spoke to the police said she became fearful for her life and sought cover. After the loud explosions ceased, she made checks and observed two people lying along the pavement in front of Lounge 69, and people were assisting them.
A report was made to the Sangre Grande Police Station, and they responded.
PC Daniel, WPC Kheerai Roopnarine, and Crime Scene Investigators processed the scene and recovered 15 spent 9mm shells and a projectile.
