TWO COMMUNITIES on opposite ends of Trinidad were rocked by heavy gunfire on Monday – the same day when Caricom leaders including TT's Prime Minister sat down and discussed the regional scourge of crime and lawlessness.
In one case, a woman was shot dead and five others including children left wounded and bleeding from multiple gunshots after gunmen raided a birthday party in Temple Street, Arima, in east Trinidad.
In the other case, police officers who were on their way to execute a warrant allegedly came under heavy gunfire, causing them to return fire and killing one man in La Puerta, Diego Martin, in west Trinidad.
At St Rose Street off Temple Street, it was reported that at least four gunmen invaded a house and shot dead 41-year-old hairdresser Candace Griffith. Residents from neighbouring communities described the loud barrage of gunshots as similar to what one would hear in a war zone.
The shooting also left five others injured, including two youths aged 15 and 16, and a 41-year-old woman who was shot in the head and up to Tuesday was warded in critical condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope.
Police said that at about 10.30 pm, gunmen stood on plastic buckets and old chairs to reach the top of the perimeter wall of the house, pointed their weapons and started shooting at the people who were liming at the birthday party, before running off.
[caption id="attachment_1011572" align="alignnone" width="768"] A man cleans bloodstains from the yard of the house in Temple Street, Arima after the shooting on Monday night. PHOTO BY JENSEN LA VENDE - Jensen La Vende[/caption]
Police found 18 spent shells of nine-millimetre calibre with one of them bearing the markings TTR (Trinidad and Tobago Regiment); five 7.62 spent shells, two projectiles and seven metal fragments.
Residents said there were gunmen at the front gate of the house waiting to gun down anyone who came running out of the house.
On Tuesday, hours after the shooting, Griffith’s boyfriend Dharmendra Sookram recalled looking on in horror as the gunmen began indiscriminately shooting at guests at the Hawaiian-themed party. He said he heard some rustling and went to a perimeter wall to investigate, when the killers began shooting.
“When the shooting stopped, I called out she name, 'Candace, Candace' but I ain’t hear no response. When I walked out, I see my wife on the ground. I picked her up and feel by she neck (for a pulse) and that was it,” Sookram said.
The first of Griffith’s two sons, Malachi Marcelle, said his mother was a caring woman who was overprotective of him and his younger brother. The last time he saw her was a month ago since because of his working hours, he stays at an aunt's home. Despite this, Marcelle said he regularly spoke with his mother on the phone.
“The last conversation I had with her, I asked her if she wanted to start a business because I like to cook. That was just in the back of my mind.”
The woman's cousin, Khadija Griffith described their relationship as that of sisters. S
