anna-lia.paul@guardian.co.tt
Senior Reporter
Hours after acting Police Commissioner Junior Benjamin reported this year’s Carnival celebrations were incident free, four people were shot in St James yesterday afternoon, one of them fatally, forcing an early shutdown of the celebrations there.
According to police reports, gunshots were heard coming from an area near Vidale Street and Western Main Road, outside the St James Market, around 4.30 pm.
As masqueraders and onlookers scattered, people rushed to assist and found four men suffering from gunshot wounds.
One man, who remained unidentified up to last night, died at the scene. The police, however, believe the victim was a Venezuelan national. The three others, who were locals standing near the victim when the shooting started, were taken to the St James Infirmary for treatment. Their conditions were said to be stable up to press time last night.
The shooting led to police locking off further festivities in St James, although a suspect was captured shortly after.
Senior police also confirmed a firearm and a quantity of ammunition was recovered shortly after the attack.
Officers, led by Snr Supt Williams and acting Supt Gyan, responded to the incident.
A motive is yet to be established for the shooting.
The murder count for the year stood at 63 up to last night.