Canadian professor shot in the head

ROBERT McDONALD, a 43-year-old Canadian university professor of Ontario, Canada, was shot in the head minutes after he and seven other visiting Canadian nationals, including two children were held up and robbed at Eastern Main Road, St Augustine, on Thursday night. Mc Donald is warded at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital in critical condition. His wife is due to arrive in Trinidad on Monday. Reports revealed that around 10 pm, McDonald and seven others were walking to the Hosannah Hotel in St Augustine, after having dinner at a nearby restaurant, when they were confronted by three men. One of the men was armed with a gun.

He ordered the Canadians to hand over cash, jewelry, cell phones and other valuables. According to the police, the bandits escaped by running away. The Canadians attempted to get a taxi to take them to the St Joseph Police Station, but the car they stopped was being driven by the same gunman and his two accomplices seated in the car. It was at this stage that the gunman pointed the gun at McDonald and shot him in the head at point blank range. A passerby who witnessed the shooting took the injured professor to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was warded in critical condition.

The children whose names were not given are 11 and 13 years of age and are here with their parents. The Canadians are staying at the Hosannah Hotel in St Augustine owned by retired judge Justice Aeneas Wills. They came to Trinidad for a karate tournament which will be held today at the University of the West Indies. The event was organised by the Bushido School Of Martial Arts and is the first Pan American International Tournament. The event’s coordinator Archie Leiba told Newsday that he visited McDonald at the ICU yesterday and he called on Government to put in place a more drastic anti-crime plan to deal with the crime situation. Leiba said that the tournament will go on as planned and members of the Canadian team will still participate in the event.

Checks with the Port-of-Spain General Hospital revealed that McDonald, a father of three, underwent emergency surgery at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital early yesterday, and the bullet, which entered his head, was removed. The visiting Canadians were supposed to leave next Tuesday, but yesterday, they were making arrangements with the Canadian Embassy to leave tomorrow. A spokesperson for the visitors, Debbie Cooper, told Newsday that she and her husband decided not to go out to dinner on Thursday since her daughter was ill. She said  the entire trip to Trinidad was organised by McDonald and she was not aware of the crime situation in this country. “We want to leave here as soon as possible. Everyone is frightened,” she said. Officers of the Tunapuna Police Station are investigating.