YVONNE WEBB AND COREY CONNELLY
The shooting deaths of a special reserve police officer in Tobago and two Diego Martin men have taken the murder toll to 529, equalling this country's murder record in 2008.
Initial information said PC Kyle Lashley was shot dead during a drive-by at Les Coteaux on Saturday. This is the 10th murder in Tobago for the year.
Lashley, who had fewer than five years of service was shot shortly after 7 pm, was sitting with a group of men when car pulled up alongside them. Two men came out of car and fired several shots the group.
Lashley fell to the ground and was taken to the Scarborough General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
In an unrelated incident, another man identified as Kurtis Smith, of Upper La Puerta, Diego Martin, was gunned down at the entrance of Starbucks at Sun Plaza, Munroe Road, Cunupia around 4 pm.
Customers and staff were inside the cafe when two masked men shot Smith multiple times near the entrance.
Commenting on the Cunupia incident, Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally condemned the brazen acts of criminality across TT.
He said this leaves no neighbourhood safe.
'It is clear that the continued incompetence and ineffectiveness of this PNM administration to combat the criminal element in our society is having a disastrous consequence for our country and citizens.'
'The longer this failed PNM government remains in office, the greater the threat will be on the safety of all citizens,' Rambally said.
On Friday night, a 45-year-old man was shot and killed on Diego Martin.
According to the police, Leslie 'Paco' Downes, of River Estate, Diego Martin, and a 32-year-old man were standing by a pavilion near the River Estate Basketball Court when, around 8.15 pm, gunmen approached them and opened fire.
Downes, a taxi driver, was shot several times while the other man was shot in his back.
The men were taken to the St James Medical Facility where Downes died.
The other man is said to be warded at the hospital in stable condition.
In an unrelated incident, a bandit received a bullet to his head after he and two armed accomplices robbed a San Fernando supermarket of several bottles of alcohol and cash shortly before 4 pm on Saturday.
An armed security guard intervened as the men were fleeing and shot one of the men who fell between the entrance of Just In Time Family Mart Supermarket, at Cipero Street, and a parked vehicle on the entrance.
Police have not yet released the identify of the dead man.
The two men men escaped and San Fernando police mounted a manhunt for them last night.
A few bottles of vodka, whiskey, champagne and rum were recovered outside the supermarket, along with a back pack. The items were bagged as part of the evidence by crime scene unit officers.
The street was cordoned off as Southern Division police, homicide bureau investigators and crime scene unit investigators gathered eviden
