(Trinidad Express) One of the suspected gunmen who was captured in a Belmont drain has died, and police are actively looking for a third man who eluded them.
The information was provided to the Sunday Express yesterday by Senior Superintendent of the Port of Spain police division Raymond Thom when asked about the two men who were held by officers on Friday. Thom said that the other suspect who was captured during the operation in Belmont remained in police custody.
In a subsequent WhatsApp exchange, when asked if the third suspect would have been the driver of the vehicle, Thom said he could not say at that moment, but that all reports indicated that “three occupants fled the vehicle, two of them being armed. I cannot say if the third person was the driver, but somebody left the vehicle and was injured at the time.”
He stressed that the police investigations were continuing and all police-involved shootings were also investigated by independent bodies.
On Friday, police were called into action after gunmen came out of a silver Nissan Tiida Sedan and shot at two men walking on Serraneau Road.
The men, identified as Curtis John, 50, and Tafawa Roberts, 24, were shot.
After the shooting, the gunmen returned to the vehicle, which later crashed. They got out of the car and hid inside the drain.
When police arrived, two officers went into the drain below St Francois Valley Road.
They held the first suspect and he was made to lie face down on a bare patch of land opposite the nearby St Francois Girls’ College.
Around 3.30 p.m., two officers entered the drain again with flashlights and saw the other suspect.
Police were heard shouting at him: “Come out now!”
They said he still had a gun, and officers fired into the drain as they shouted at him: “Drop the gun!”
That suspect was shot.
When asked about the two victims who were shot by the assailants, Thom said the apparent intended target was listed as critical, but the man he deemed as an innocent bystander was resting comfortably.