MERE days away from his 17th birthday, a St Augustine schoolboy was gunned down while going to check on his grandmother on Tuesday afternoon, after hearing gunshots outside their home.
Police said gunmen in a grey Toyota Corolla drove to Freeman Street, St Augustine at around 2.20 pm and shot a man known only as Geno, killing him instantly and wounding two others, one of whom is a visually impaired man.
As the gunshots rang out, 16-year-old Darshan Ramnauth ran out of his house to check on his grandmother Soorajie Mahabir, who lives nearby.
As he walked on to the street, Ramnauth was spotted by the gunmen who turned their weapons on him. As the frightened teen turned and ran off, he was chased. Gunshots rang out once again and the youth collapsed on the road. The killers got back into their car and drove off.
[caption id="attachment_997558" align="alignnone" width="321"] Caption: Darshan Ramnauth, 16, was shot and killed near his Freeman Road, St Augustine, home on Tuesday afternoon.[/caption]
A report was made to police and while the wounded men were taken away to hospital for treatment, screams rent the air as Ramnauth's relatives including his grandmother stared at his body.
The district medical officer arrived later and ordered both bodies removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for autopsies.
Less than an hour after the double-murder, police from the North Central Division arrested three men in Five Rivers, Arouca and seized three pistols and an AK-47 assault rifle. One of the pistols was outfitted with an extended magazine. Police could not say if these three were Ramnauth's killers.
The double-murder, plus another murder on Tuesday in El Socorro, meant that there were 40 murders up to January 24.
When Newsday visited the scene on Tuesday afternoon, crime scene investigators and police from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region II were still continuing enquiries, taking statements and photographing the area.
Ramnauth's mother, Dhanmatie Ramnauth said she got a call while at her Mt Hope workplace from a relative telling her that Darshan was killed.
She said Darshan was a form five student of St Augustine Secondary School and was expected to write CSEC examinations later this year.
Ramnauth said her son wanted to go to Tobago for his birthday on February 1, and worked part-time as a straightener and painter for an auto body show to make money. She said he stayed at home on Monday and Tuesday to finish working on a car.
[caption id="attachment_997554" align="alignnone" width="1024"] CRIME SCENE: An officer processes the scene in Freeman Street, St Augustine after a double-murder on Tuesday which claimed the lives of a man and a 16-year-old schoolboy. Photo by Sureash Cholai[/caption]
"He was waiting on the boy (co-worker) to pick him up to go in St Joseph, that's where they do the straightening and painting. His sister said he just finished eating and went to use the washroom.
"When he came outside, he heard the gunshots. He thought the car with the gunmen left a
