The death of a 54-year-old San Fernando man in Petit Valley yesterday afternoon is puzzling investigators.
According to police reports residents of Phillip Charles Drive, Petit Valley heard gunshots and contacted the police around 3 pm.
Cpl Murray and constables Khan and Mc Clean of the Western Division Task Force responded to the report and found Thomas outside his car, a black Nissan B15 with a bullet wound to the back of the head.
Police said Thomas lived at Palmyra Village, San Fernando.
Western Division officers Insp Henry Dann and Sgt Bernard conducted preliminary investigations and passed the information on to Sgt Elvin of the Homicide Bureau of Investigations.
Thomas’ killing has pushed the murder toll to 406 for the year with the corresponding figure being 401 last year for the same period.
In 2008, there were 547 murders and since then there has been a downward trend with 2014 recording 408 murders according to acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams during a guest appearance on TV6’s Beyond the Tape.
Williams said that illegal guns accounted for the majority of murders at 83 per cent. Williams said there had been 675 guns recovered for the year and congratulated the men and women responsible for this.
In 2014, 586 guns were taken off the streets.
“What is fuelling the murders are incidents relating to an angry country where young people can’t effectively manage dispute... Police are responsible for taking guns off streets but there is a larger problem of protecting the borders,” Williams said, adding that he was elated to hear that the Coast Guard had received more patrol vessels.
Williams added that the worst criminals were those who were part of the police service and as such he had increased the resources of the Professional Standards Bureau, which is charged with policing police officers.