Gunmen attack hospital, four killed

PORT OF SPAIN (CMC):

National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds has condemned the murders of four people, as gunmen launched an attack at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) ward of the Port of Spain General Hospital (POSGH) to finish off the deadly skirmish that started in Gonsalves on the outskirts of the capital on Sunday night.

“I on behalf of the people of Trinidad and Tobago feel a sense of outrage on this,” Hinds told reporters, adding “when gunmen can do that and then come to the hospital to finish off their dirty work it shows you that they have no fear or no respect for anything, anyone, including the law of Trinidad and Tobago and how the sanctions of the law can work against them, that is where we are.”

He said reports of gang-related killings were happening even with the presence of Anti-Gang legislation and that from the intelligence presented to him 65 per cent of all homicides reported in 2023 had gang-related motives.

Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh said he had been in contact with medical workers, including doctors and nurses “and needless to say, the staff have been traumatised.

“So what we are doing is escalating their psychological treatment and counselling and engaging our professionals at St Ann’s (Mental Hospital) and we are engaging our employee assistance programme.”

The authorities have named those killed as 21-year-old Jaydon Reyes; 28-year-old Johnathan Arjoon; 30-year-old Kevin King; and 31-year-old Peter Williams.

Media reports said that the men were liming after having just finished playing a football game, when at about 7:55 p.m (local time), men in dark clothing exited a car and opened fire on the group of friends.

Some witnesses say the killers were dressed in clothing that resembled police tactical wear and that after the shooting at the group, the suspects returned to the vehicle and drove off.

At least two men died on the scene.

Officers from the Port of Spain Division, the Homicide Bureau, and the Inter Agency Task Force, among others, responded, but the gunmen made their way to the POSGH where the injured men had been taken and firing upon them and forcing the medical staff and patients scampering for safety.