Man, 21, shot in bed

ASSASSINS claiming to be police officers shot and killed a 21-year-old man as he slept in a bed in an apartment on Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain, early yesterday morning, police sources said. Before they snuffed out the life of Jerryl Wiltshire, the assassins said: “This is the police. Where is Jerry? He(Jerry) only killing people and we come for him.” Senior police officers say they believe there is a link between Wiltshire’s death and that of San Juan resident Steve Hall, who was also shot as he sat in his vehicle on Nelson Street on Friday.  However, police sources were unable to say what the link is. It was around 1.30 am yesterday that Wiltshire’s sister-in-law, Nikeda Drakes was asleep in the living room area of their small Nelson Street home. She was awakened by the sound of a man saying “police open up.” She told Newsday that the man was at an open window in the living room, and wore a mask. She said she ran to a corner of the living room and hid.

Nikeda then called her mother, Jennifer Drakes, who came out and said to the man that if he was indeed the police, he should take off his mask. “I told him that he was a bandit,” Jennifer, 48, a part-time worker at Service Commission, said. Afterwards, Jennifer said, she ran inside a bedroom and told her children to hide under a bed. There were seven people in the room, among them three children, ages 5, 7 and 14. The armed man then placed a firearm through the bedroom window and fired two shots into the room, all the time telling family members that they should open the door. One of the bullets struck a wall. Not satisfied, Jennifer said a man (she could not say if it was the first man), went to another bedroom, in which Wiltshire, a National Housing Authority (NHA) worker, was asleep. His 24-year-old common-law-wife, Natalie Drakes had already fled that bedroom after hearing the commotion.

Jennifer said the man put his gun through the open bedroom window and shot Wiltshire once in the neck. Her son-in-law got off the bed and ran into the kitchen area, where he collapsed and died. The assassins then fled the scene, reportedly in two vehicles. A report was made and a party of officers from the Port-of-Spain Division headed by Insp Manechand Ramnarine, and including Sgt Valentine Millette and Cpl Michael Bridgeman visited the scene and conducted investigations. District Medical Officer (DMO) Dr Mootoo pronounced Wiltshire dead. A post mortem performed yesterday by pathologist Dr Eastlyn McDonald-Burris revealed Wiltshire died from a single gunshot wound. Jennifer said Wiltshire had been staying at her house for approximately three months, when her daughter, Natalie, first started seeing him. “He was a very nice person and everyone loved him,” she said, unable to say whether or not Wiltshire was involved in any killings as the gunmen charged. Jennifer said Wiltshire previously lived at Wharton Street, Laventille, but could not say why he left his home in the first place.  She added that she is fed up of the crime situation on Nelson Street, saying that she has seen so many bodies fall via bullets. No arrests had been made up to late evening and Cpl Bridgeman of the Besson Street Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is continuing investigations.