Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 15/Jan 19:53

Three overnight murders push toll to 17

POLICE are investigating three unrelated murders that took place in Morvant, Champs Fleurs and San Raphael on the night of January 14, along with a shooting in Arima which left a man hospitalised in critical condition. In the first incident, Jerome Joseph, 43, was shot dead outside a supermarket in Champs Fleurs. Joseph, a fruit vendor, was at his stall near Food Basket on the Eastern Main Road around 8.30 pm, when security at the supermarket reported hearing gunshots. The shots sent shoppers in the car park scampering for safety. The security called the police who got there minutes later and, amid the crowd of people still scampering away, saw Joseph lying on the ground. Police also found three spent 9mm shell casings, two live rounds of 9mm ammunition and a deformed projectile. The district medical officer pronounced Joseph dead at the scene and ordered an autopsy to be done. In the second incident, at around 11 pm, a passer-by told police at the San Raphael Police Station there was a man lying on the road near Cost Cutters Warehouse. The police left the station and went to the area where they found the body of a man lying on the ground with gunshot wounds and six spent 9mm shells nearby. The man had no identification on him but a police report described him as being of African descent, approximately five feet, seven inches tall, brown skin, with a short black afro hairstyle. He was wearing a white jersey and white short pants with a black sneakers. Police are also investigating a third murder in Morvant, but have not yet identified the victim. According to reports, the man was driving a white Nissan Almera along the Lady Young Road when a car pulled alongside his and a gunman fired multiple shots into the vehicle. The victim suffered multiple wounds and slumped over into the passenger seat where he died. The killings pushed the murder toll for the year to 17. Meanwhile, police are also investigating what they believe was a robbery gone wrong in Arima which has left a 27-year-old man from Manuel Congo in critical condition at hospital. Around 10.15 pm, the victim and a friend were sitting on a bench in a park on Percy Caesar Street, when two men, one of whom was armed with a firearm, approached them. They became afraid and tried to run through the park when the gunman fired two shots at them. The victim was shot and fell to the ground. The suspects ran up to him, stole his phone and wallet, shot him several times and then ran off. Police responded to reports of the gunshots and found the victim on the ground. They took him to the Arima Health Facility and doctors treated him for gunshot wounds to the chest, abdomen, left thigh and buttocks. Police found a spent 9mm shells and WPC Naidoo assigned to the Arima Police Station is investigating the incident. The post Three overnight murders push toll to 17 appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.