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Homicide investigators were very busy over the past 24 hours investigating the murders of eight people throughout the North and Central districts. Up to press time, the murder toll for the year thus far reached 187.
The most recent murder occurred shortly after 6 pm when the brother-in-law of recently slain car dealer Sheron Sukhdeo was gunned down in Chaguanas.
Police said Philip Basant was murdered in the same spot along the Caroni Savannah Road where Sukhdeo was also killed just over one month ago. Basant had reportedly just walked out of his home and was gunned down by occupants in a vehicle that pulled up to him.
Basant is the younger brother of Sukhdeo’s widow, Rachael. Up to press time, Basant’s body was still at the scene and police were investing.
Hours prior to this, an unidentified man was gunned down while walking along Oxford Street, Port-of-Spain. According to a police report, a gunman walked up to the man and shot him several times in the chest.
The gunman then escaped on foot.
And at about 7.35 am yesterday, Devon Gregoire, 35, was asleep at his Freedom Hill, Cocorite home when gunmen smashed in the louvres to his bedroom and shot him several times. A relative, who was at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, said they were not sure why anyone would have wanted him dead.
However, police suspect Gregoire’s murder was linked to the murder of Charlton Williams, 39, who was shot and killed in Cocorite on Thursday around 10 pm.
Earlier Thursday, at about 5.30 pm, Deron Gaitan, the son of a retired prisons officer, was shot several times across the road from where he lived at Mamoral No.2 Village, Caparo. Police said his killing was domestic related.
Prior to this incident, at about 4 pm on Thursday, a group of men liming and playing cards off Morne Coco Road, Petit Valley, were attacked. Police said a red SUV pulled up and its occupants opened fire on them. Two men, identified as Allan “Spanish” Lopez, 35 and Jorden “Ragga Dan” Gibbs, 23, were shot and later died while undergoing treatment at the St James infirmary.
Lopez’s relatives told the T&T Guardian he was a “no nonsense kind of guy” and believed he was killed because of that. A cousin, who did not want to be named, said there were many attempts on Lopez’s life before but added she did not know why. The cousin also said Lopez faced drug-related charges in the courts but was never convicted. She described him as a “giver” and a loving individual.
Gibbs’ uncle said his father was murdered about two months ago and was saddened his nephew met a similar demise.
“He was just there liming when the incident happened. He was the neighbour of Spanish too so all of us lived in the same area. Spanish and his father were friends. It’s sad to see crime has become so out of hand now,” Gibbs’ uncle said.
Around the same time, an unidentified man was fatally shot while at Mon Plasir Road in Cunupia.
Investigations are continuing into all incidents.