Police ‘shoot to kill’ 2

POLICE yesterday shot and killed two men, after being reportedly attacked at a house on Mendez Trace, Samaroo Village, Arima. The shooting deaths of the two men, identified by police as Kevin Thomas, 22, of Enterprise, Chaguanas, and Shadrack Beckles, 24, of Malabar, Arima, comes on the heels of a stern warning issued Monday to police by Second Division Association President, acting Insp Christopher Holder. “Don’t hesitate to shoot to kill in protecting your lives and limbs and also those of other citizens,” Holder had told Newsday in an interview Monday.

In yesterday’s police shooting death incident, police said officers of the Northern Divisional Task Force, along with members of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), went to execute a search warrant at the house for firearms and ammunition. The unpainted house is situated downstairs of what appeared to be an apartment building.  Police sources said when the party of officers approached the house around 12.40pm, they were greeted by two men and a woman, the girlfriend of one of the deceased. Lawmen said one of the men was armed with a .22 pistol, while the other was armed with a cutlass.  The man with the pistol  reportedly fired shots at the police, after which the lawmen returned fire, striking both men. The two were rushed to the Arima Health Facility where they were pronounced dead on arrival.  The 21-year-old woman who was with the two, was taken into police custody and was up to last night assisting the Arima CID with their investigations. Officers also seized a large quantity of marijuana from the house and the .22 pistol.  Police sources said the two men were known to the police for banditry, while Thomas, was said to be wanted for a murder.  At the scene yesterday, one woman told Newsday she overheard the police saying the incident was related to last Thursday’s shootout in Valencia.

Police, however, said they could not confirm this.  The Valencia shooting incident occurred when Northern Division Task Force officers went to the area on information received relative to a plot to rob the Cross Country Food Traders Limited, Old Road, Valencia. Two shotguns, twelve 12-gauge cartridges and 15 rounds of .38 ammunition were seized.  One of the shotguns, a 12-gauge Baretta repeater, has since been traced to one that had been stolen from dentist David Wong whose Nelson Street, Arima, house was robbed early May. The female Samaroo Village resident told Newsday that she heard approximately three shots. She said she knew Thomas, but did not know Beckles, adding that the two men had been in the area for approximately one month. “I feel they were hiding out here,” she said, adding she did not notice anything strange about them, however. Supt Farrel of the Central Division has been appointed lead investigator for transparency, senior officers said.