(Trinidad Express) Sixty-eight-year-old Edward Taylor, enfeebled by three strokes and a heart condition, could do nothing when gunmen broke into his home and terrorised him at daybreak yesterday.
Less than six hours later, the men who allegedly robbed him were among six people killed by police at a crime hideout not far away.
Taylor, a pensioner, said three men entered his home with guns, asking for gold and cash, around 6.15 a.m.
His wife died a year ago and Taylor lives alone in Otis Lane, Calcutta No 2, Freeport.
The couple had no children.
“I walked out of the washroom and saw three men standing in the living room. I walk with a cane so they made me sit on the couch and pointed a gun at me and asked for money and gold,” he said.
Fearful for his life, Taylor said he directed the men to his jewelry, which was valued at $50,000.
He also handed over $600 and his bank card.
The suspects escaped in a Toyota Aqua car parked a short distance away from Taylor’s house.
Central Division police responded to the report and six hours later, investigators tracked Taylor’s attackers to a house located four kilometres away, in Razack Trace, Freeport.
The getaway Toyota Aqua car was parked behind the house.
Police said officers surrounded the house and called on the people inside to surrender.
But they said the occupants of the house responded with gunfire.
Police said officers returned fire and six people—five men and a 15-year-old girl—were hit.
The wounded people were taken to the Couva District Health Facility where they were all pronounced dead, said police.
The Express obtained CCTV (closed-circuit television) footage which showed that police officers began arriving at the shootout location at 11.26 a.m.
There is no known video of the actual shooting, but at 11.37 a.m., a police pick-up is seen speeding away, with a police officer sitting in the tray next to a mound covered by white tarpaulin.
It is believed the tarp was covering the people who had been shot.
By mid-afternoon, police had identified one of the deceased as Kevon St Bernard, 37, of Claxton Bay, also known as Kevon John, who had previously been charged with robbery-related incidents.
Three more were identified last evening—Jovan Simon, Nicholas Caesar and Saloni Rangil, 15.
Investigators said some of Taylor’s possessions were recovered, including his ID and party card.
Items belonging to other robbery victims were also found inside the house.
Three firearms were also recovered at the house, police said.
The Express was told that the six people had moved into the rented house in Razack Trace recently.
Neighbours said they had no information on the occupants of the house and were not aware that they had been involved in illegal activities.
Several families gathered at the Couva District Health Facility last evening where the bodies were taken by police. Photographs of the bodies emerged on social media, showing the dead woman and the men with multiple gunshot wounds about their bodies.
Their family members said they were being denied the opportunity to identify their loved ones and questioned the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The group called on police officers to speak with them about the incident as they had questions for the officers involved in the shooting.
On Sunday, three people were killed in a police-involved shooting during an alleged shootout near the Caroni Cremation Site.
One of the dead was a 21-year-old woman.
The Express visited Taylor, who lives nine minutes away from the scene of the shooting, and he recounted his 20-minute ordeal with the intruders.
Taylor, a former Caroni (1975) Ltd worker, said he was uncertain why the men targeted him.
“My wife died a year ago and my brother stays with me sometimes. I had a stroke and heart attack and I cannot do anything for myself. My brother left the house at 6 a.m. to go to the hospital for my medication, and about 15 minutes later, these men came in,” he said.
Taylor said he was traumatised by the incident and was pleased the police had acted quickly.
“No, I don’t feel sorry for them. I am a sick, old man and they terrorised me here in my own home. I couldn’t look them in the face. I was so afraid for my life. I thought they would kill me. I am happy the police went and found them,” he said.
Taylor said he pleaded with the intruders, sharing his emotional pain since his wife died, but the men did not sympathise with him.
“They took everything I had and kept pointing that gun at my head. Then they called the driver who was in the car parked by the streetlight, and the person told them to leave me, don’t kill me,” he said.
Last week, Taylor’s cousin was robbed in a home invasion at his home in Freeport.
“This has been happening often. My cousin had a prayers and these men went in and robbed them. And other people in the area have been robbed, so there is a gang going around,” he said.
Residents of Otis Lane celebrated the police yesterday, saying they had been living in fear for months as several families had been robbed in the district.
Senior officers told the Express that the officers involved in the shootout with the suspects were acting in accordance with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s (TTPS) Use of Force Policy.
