A TOBAGO man was shot and killed near a guesthouse in Parlatuvier on September 11, raising the island’s record murder toll to 22 for 2024
Police said around 5.11 am, Alvin Daniel, 55, aka Sargie, of Bamboo Hill, Parlatuvier, was sitting with a woman in a silver seven-seater Toyota vehicle on Northside Road when gunmen pulled up alongside and started shooting.
Daniel and the woman were found with gunshot wounds. They were taken to the Roxborough Hospital, where Daniel was pronounced dead at 5.53am.
The woman was transferred to the Scarborough General Hospital.
Homicide detectives are investigating.
When Newsday visited the area, a car was parked near the caution tape that cordoned off the area where the couple was shot.
Daniel’s daughter, who was at the scene, did not want to speak about her father’s death as her mother also died recently. Other relatives supported her as she grieved.
On the Parlatuvier beachfront, one of Daniel’s favourite recreational spots, villagers described him as family-oriented. They said he was also a very skilful straightener and painter.
One villager said Daniel, who worked in the Division of Food Security, Natural Resources, the Environment and Sustainable Development, was shot near Gloucester Place, where he worked as a part-time caretaker.
“He just does business there. Some Americans own the place and he was the caretaker, cleaning the yard and taking care of the premises,” one man said.
Lamenting Tobago’s worsening crime situation, the man predicted the bloodshed will continue.
“The crime situation won’t stop. It will get worse. No if, but or maybe.”
He suggested that a death squad should be introduced as a measure to drastically reduce murders.
“It is not legal, but that is the only time crime will change, because the horse done break the stable already. You cannot bring it back again.”
The man believes former police commissioner Gary Griffith would have had a handle on the country’s crime situation.
“He little mouthy, but that is his nature. I doh see anybody to curb, slow down or stop the set of killings.”
He said police must gather proper intelligence to improve the detection rate.
Commenting on this latest killing, Tobago Business Chamber chairman Martin George questioned the claim by senior police that they are in control of crime.
“We had, within the past few days, a very senior police officer telling the nation on more than one occasion that the police are in control of crime. With Tobago recording its 22nd murder, one wonders, what does that really mean?” he asked in a WhatsApp voicenote. “Is there some double entendre that this senior police officer was really telegraphing to the nation when she said the police are in control of crime?”
He said ordinary citizens do not feel safe and secure.
“One does not feel that the police are in control of the situation in terms of dealing with criminals. In fact, it appears to be the opposite. The criminals appear to be running rampant, creating murder, mayhem and madness and the police seem clue
