Weeks before he was expected to testify in a court case against another employee, Public Service Transportation Corporation (PTSC) of painter Carlos Samuel was gunned down outside the corporation’s San Fernando garage on Sunday.
Linking his death to the case, his daughter Shernelle yesterday said after Samuel and his colleagues reported the man and he was suspended, the man vowed to “hire a shot and kill him.”
Contacted yesterday, however, PTSC general manager Ronald Forde said he was not aware of such a case and would have to check.
According to reports, Samuel, 50, of Barrackpore, had just finished his shift at 4 pm when he walked out the garage along Lady Hailes Avenue and headed to his car at the side of the compound. An electrician who followed five minutes later found Samuel clutching a wire fence and saw a gunman running away. As the gunman saw the electrician, he fired another shot, which missed its target.
On checking, the electrician found Samuel bleeding from a gunshot wound to the stomach. Colleagues took Samuel to the San Fernando General Hospital where he died around 4.50 pm.
Following his autopsy yesterday, pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov said Samuel bled to death after the bullet entered his left side and pierced a major blood vessel before exiting.
At their home yesterday, Shernelle said many of Samuel’s colleagues had visited their home Sunday night still in shock at his death. She was told by his colleagues that Samuel had opened his car door when he saw the gunman approaching and tried to alert the others by blowing his horn. They ran out the compound after hearing two shots.
She said the incident involving the senior employee happened two years ago. Based on what her father told them previously, they caught the man stealing parts and reported him. The man was suspended and he threatened to kill Samuel. Although nothing happened between then and Sunday, she said it was strange that her father’s killer knew when his shift would end and where his car was parked.
Speaking by telephone, Forde said he worked in the San Fernando office on Sunday and it was only when he reached his home he got the news. He said head of security Kenrick Edwards visited the garage yesterday as the corporation will also be conducting inquiries. Extending condolences, he said management will make arrangements to meet with Samuel’s family.
“Right now we are living in a strange place and things happen and you just can’t understand why. It was very unfortunate that we lost one of our good employees like this,” Forde said.
Samuel worked at PTSC for the past 16 years.
General Secretary of the Transport and Industrial Workers Union Deon Stanisclaus said workers at the garage and company were also battling grief. Stanisclaus said Samuel, nicknamed Sky, was the second loss they had suffered in recent weeks, as bus driver Keron John died in a motorcycle accident in Arima last week.