THERE have been 201 murders as of May 10, nine fewer when compared to last year’s 210.
However, May 2024 has three more murders compared to the same period in 2023.
The new year began on a bloody note when a mother and daughter were murdered. The double murder came as the nation still grappled with a shooting at Courts Megastore car park off the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, which left two siblings dead and one man paralysed, with two others injured.
Carmelita De Leon and her daughter Calida Schamber were shot and killed on January 2 and 12 hours later, Tesson Bradshaw, a 48-year-old soldier, was held in a forested area at Blanchisseuse Road in Arima in connection with their murder.
On January 3, two men were killed and three others injured during a shooting near Tunapuna Market. A car pulled up near the Priority Bus Route entrance when a gunman opened fire, hitting the five victims.
One man died on the spot, another was pronounced dead on arrival at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope. Dead were Mikel Voison and Aaron Leander. The three injured were 22-year-old Christine Hosein, Alex Alexander, 33, and Nathaniel Gajadar, 22.
January 14, 15-year-old Isabella Teelucksingh, of Savary Road and her aunt, Hema Boodoo, 20, of Kelly Village, Caroni, were both shot in Las Lomas when a man shot at a group of people walking along the road.
Around 7 pm the suspect and another man got into an argument about football that turned physical. The suspect then went to his home and returned with a gun. He opened fire at passers-by, hitting the two women before fleeing.
Teelucksingh was shot in the head and died at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. Boodoo was shot in the pelvic area.
On January 16, a gunman opened fire on a group of men liming at Paradise Heights, Morvant, killing three men. Israel Mc Laren, 19, Shaqkeem Dennis, 26, both from Paradise Heights, and Jammol Williams from Upper Mapp Lands, Belmont, were taken to Mt Hope General Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries.
The men were sitting on a bench shortly before 8 pm when a vehicle pulled up, and several men in what appeared to be police uniforms ordered the trio to "freeze." The men complied and were shot multiple times.
On January 20, a drive-by shooting in San Juan left three with gunshot wounds, including a teenage boy who was liming along Shende Street after midnight. No one was killed.
In February 5, two friends were shot and killed hours apart in San Juan. At around 1.15 pm, Mikeal Williams, 30, of Febeau Village, San Juan, was in an open shed at the corner of Cocoa Road and Sou Sou Lands when he was shot and killed.
Police arrived at the scene and found Williams lying on the floor near a refrigerator. He had been shot several times. A 19-year-old woman standing nearby was also shot in the abdomen.
Hours later, 26-year-old Jamal Roach, who was walking along Laventille Road in San Juan, was shot and killed after gunmen opened fire on him. He was on his way home after visiting his children.
An evenin
