Midnight robbery and shooting at Chaguanas guest house

Four armed men stormed into the Santa Maria Guest House at approximately 1 am yesterday morning and robbed several occupants, shooting some in the process. The men, armed with guns and cutlasses, entered the room of off-duty police officer Damien Ali and robbed him of several items of jewelry.

The men also fired several shots in the room of 20-year-old Sangre Grande resident Brian Benly, who along with a friend Linuatit Balthazar were shot.  Balthazar was shot in his left leg. The two men were also robbed of cash and jewelry. A friend of the two shooting victims, 25-year-old Chris Platta, escaped the gunfire but was also robbed of several items of jewelry. Benly and Balthazar were treated at the Chaguanas Health Centre then transferred to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where they are presently warded.

Cpl Villafana of the Chaguanas CID is investigating the incident. In an unrelated incident St Barb’s resident Rondell Sandy was reportedly walking along Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain at approximately 8 pm on Thursday night when he was confronted by a man who shot him several times about the body. Sandy is warded at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital in stable condition after being treated. Officers of the Besson Street CID are conducting investigations into the shooting.