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Three men were killed and another was fighting for his life at hospital last evening, following a drive-by shooting in Bon Air Gardens, Arouca, on Monday night.
According to reports, around 8.45 pm officers of the Northern Division’s Rapid Response Unit (RRU) received a report of a shooting at Nightingale Drive, Bon Air Gardens. When they arrived on the scene, they found two men dead on the road and another lying unconscious in a track leading to the location.
The two dead men were identified as Dwight Richardson, 25, of Eastern Main Road, Arouca and 25-year-old Khadeem “Smalls” Williams, of El Dorado Heights, El Dorado.
The injured man, Saleem Dominique, 36, of Boodoo Avenue, Maturita, Arima, was taken to the Arima District Hospital but died while undergoing emergency surgery.
Homicide detectives later received a report of a man being admitted to the Eric Williams Medical Science Complex in Mt Hope with gunshot injuries.
Investigators later revealed the man, 22-year-old Nigel Scott, of Ramgoliee Trace, Cunupia, was wounded in the shooting and was taken to hospital by friends.
Crime scene investigators were processing the scene up to early yesterday morning as they attempted to determine what transpired. Their investigations were made more complex by the distances between where Richardson, Williams and Dominique were found and the fact that Scott was reportedly taken to the hospital several hours after the shooting.
Investigators believe the shooting is linked to two incidents in the community last week in which three men died. Police said the three previous victims were known associates of the victims who died this week.
Ronald “Tek” McKie was killed last Wednesday, while Anderson Forbes and Anderson James, who lived on the same street in the community where McKie was killed, were slain while attending his wake the following day.
All six victims are said to be known by police and were suspected of being members of a gang which operates in the community.
Police sources said anti-crime measures have already been put in place in an attempt to stymie any further attacks in the community since residents were now concerned for their safety.
When a news team from the T&T Guardian visited the Forensic Science Centre in St James yesterday, relatives of the victims refused to comment on their murders. However, Williams’ wife and friends were heard arguing with their mother over whether they should bury him under Muslim or Christian rites.
“They have to understand that she is his mother. They did not come around when he was in jail for three months. She was the one who had that headache,” a family friend, who accompanied Williams’ mother, said.
Williams’ mother eventually consented to him being buried under the rites of the religion he converted to after his widow and friends agreed to foot the bill for the funeral.
The trio’s murder, along with another in Malabar, Arima, raised the murder toll for the year to 361.
In the Malabar incident, Marlon Farrell, 41, of Joseph Avenue, Malabar, was murdered near his home.
When officers arrived on the scene shortly after 1 am, they found Farrell lying on the road with gunshot wounds to his head and chest. He was taken to the Arima District Hospital and was initially listed in a critical condition but passed away several hours later.
Investigations are continuing.