A 50-year-old Arima taxi driver was murdered and robbed of his car while working on Tuesday night.

Police said Stephen Marshall was plying his white Nissan AD Wagon for hire and picked up four passengers in Arima at around 8.15 pm.

Near La Platta Circular Junction near the Eastern Main Road, in Valencia, two of the passengers pulled out guns, ordered the driver to stop and told the other two passengers to get out of the car.

The bandits shot the driver several times before taking his car and driving off.

The passengers ran away and called the police, who visited the scene with a district medical officer who declared the driver dead.

Police from the Valencia Special Operations Unit found Marshall's car at around 11.15 pm on La Platta Circular Road, KP Lands, Valencia.

Investigators said the console on the dashboard of the car was stolen.

They found one spent 9 mm shell.

As of Wednesday morning, the murder toll was 212 for the year thus far compared to 200 for the same period last year.

There have been 18 murders for May compared to 16 for the same period last year.

In an unrelated incident, a 40-year-old Cumuto man was shot while standing in his yard on Tuesday night.

Police said the man was outside his Caratal Road home at around 9 pm when he heard gunshots and felt pain in his face, left hand and chest.

A relative who was in the house called an ambulance that took him to the Arima Hospital, where he was treated and discharged.

Police from the Northern Division crime scene investigation unit visited.

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