Police held four people during anti-crime exercises in several divisions over the past two days, a police statement said on Thursday.

It said the swift response of St Margaret’s police thwarted an attempted shop break-in at Claxton Bay on Tuesday.

The report said the police saw three masked suspects outside the building when they responded to a report.

On seeing the police, the men ran off, but the officers held one suspect nearby.

In another incident, police from the Central Division Task Force, Area South, intercepted a car with two male suspects after receiving a report of an assault with intent to rob in the Preysal district moments earlier.

The police held the men, 27 and 38, both of Piarco.

A police-involved shooting in the North Eastern Division (NED) on Wednesday night resulted in the arrest of a suspect. The police also recovered a car and several mobile devices believed to be stolen.

The statement said NED Intelligence Unit, the NED Task Force, CID Crime Patrol police responded to a report of armed robbery in the Aranguez district around 8.15 pm.

While on the way, they saw two suspects crossing the Priority Bus Route and tried to apprehend them.

One shot at the police, who returned fire.

They later held a 19-year-old man and seized a cellphone from him, which was reported stolen.

They searched the area and found three more phones.

Acting on information, police went to the Morvant district, where they found two cars – a silver Nissan Tiida, which was reported stolen last month, and a Nissan Sylphy with a false registration plate.

NEDTF and Canine Branch police found a pistol loaded with a magazine containing eight rounds of ammunition in an Operation Strike Back exercise in the Santa Cruz district.

Investigations are ongoing.