Another double murder and another young couple killed by the gun.
This time in crime hotspot of Enterprise, Chaguanas taking the murder toll, since the September 7 elections, to 23 in 13 days.
Five people were murdered in T&T between Friday night and up to press time last night—all were shot dead.
Police are yet to make any arrests in any of the murders. The murder toll now stands at 311, surpassing the comparable figure for last year by 11 killings. The majority of the murders remain unsolved and more than 80 per cent were committed with the use of an illegal gun, police said.
Already Opposition politicians are criticising National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and the People’s National Movement (PNM) for the increase in murders and its inability to deal with crime.
“This escalation of crime and murders affect communities and individuals in a manner in which they feel that they can no longer trust the police to protect them, which creates vigilantism and increased violence when people decide to fight back. This PNM needs to assume the responsibility of their office and immediately implement measures to decrease the murder rate before it reaches a point where it can no longer be contained. Because asking the nation to “Let’s do this together” does not work if the Government isn’t doing anything at all,” San Juan/Barataria MP Dr Fuad Khan said in a statement yesterday. (See Page A6)
Last week, a young couple were shot dead while walking along the Eastern Main Road, in Tacarigua and last weekend, eight people were shot, two killed, in a drug-related hit in Icacos, Cedros.
Police intend to respond with a series of raids aimed at getting the illegal guns off the streets and increase their presence in known crime hotspots, a senior officer said in an interview yesterday.
So far, police have been able to recover more than 460 illegal firearms and more than 6,291 rounds of ammunition were seized. Among the guns seized were 25 assault rifles and 18 sub-machine guns, according to the Police Service.
Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams said on Saturday that the Police Service was almost overwhelmed by the amount of illegal firearms coming into the country.
National Security sources said that maritime patrols have also been ramped up to stem the flow of illegal guns and drugs coming into the country.
ASSUALT RIFLE USED IN ATTACK, MORE THAN 30 SHOTS FIRED
In the latest incident, police said around 10.50 pm, the couple, Shastri La Vende, 27, and his girlfriend Kim Kelly Rattansingh, 36, were found shot dead in Rattansingh’s car on Enterprise Street, Enterprise.
La Vende was the cousin of T&T Guardian crime reporter Jensen La Vende. Police responding to a report of gunshots found the bodies slumped in a white Mazda 323 motorcar.
Both victims were shot multiple times and Crime Scene Investigators found more than 30 spent shells on the scene. Investigators said a high-powered assault rifle was used in the attack.
The T&T Guardian visited Rattansingh’s Bynoe Trace, Enterprise home yesterday and spoke to her mother, Geeta, who said her daughter was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“It looks as though he had something out there for him, maybe she was there at the wrong time,” she said.
“My son went on the scene and he said the guy got most of the shots, he only saw one (bullet) wound on her neck.”
La Vende’s address was given as Railway Road, Enterprise but residents there said they only knew him briefly and that he was originally from Carenage.
Geeta said her daughter, who has one child, had been friends with La Vende for almost a year and he was driving her car when they were killed. She said she had warned her about liming with La Vende but she did not heed her warnings.
“I told her to stop liming with him, but she did not listen. I couldn’t make a choice for her but he never looked good for her. I didn’t like the way he dressed and how he carried on.”
She said she often heard her daughter, who worked as a clerical assistant in Balmain Gardens, Couva, arguing with La Vende on the phone. “She would want to go somewhere and he wouldn’t have time, leaving her to get dressed and just wait. He used to keep her car all the time.”
Geeta said she knew little of La Vende, but believed he ran a fruit stall in Enterprise and her daughter may have met him there.
“He never used to come in the yard, he would come by the gate and wait for her and she would walk out. I know him by face but we never had a conversation.” She lamented the crime that now rules Enterprise, saying 36 years ago when she moved into the area, everyone lived as one.
“I moved here when Kim was just one month old, it was never like this. People used to live like one family, everyone looking out for each other.” Asked whether she would remain in Enterprise, she replied, “Where else do I have to go? I have to stay here.”
Jensen described his cousin as “a straightforward young man who moved out from Carenage years ago but still maintained a healthy relationship with relatives there.”
“The news was shocking and my heart goes out to his father, Glen, and his mother, Maria. Reflecting on his life and times, my fondest memory was him giving me a tow on his mountain bike down L’anse Mitan Road, Carenage. I was about ten and still had not learned how to ride a bike. That brief moment of watching the world fly by as he rode will always be a memory cherished by me and that’s how I will remember him, helpful, jovial and fun loving. Last time I saw him was at a gas station in Chaguanas where we spoke briefly about car problems before he left,” he recalled.
Autopsies are expected to be done this morning at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.
Snr Supt Abraham, Insp Terrence Williams, Sgt Jitindra Toolaram, Sgt Jodhan and officers from Homicide Region Three visited the scene on Saturday night.