Trini gunman shot dead in Tobago — another on the loose

TWO shootouts between gunmen and police over the weekend in the Sister Isle, have left a Morvant man dead, a Tobago policeman in critical condition, a robbery suspect hospitalised and another suspect still at large. Residents of Scarborough  reported hearing rapid gunfire and shouts. When the shooting stopped, Corporal Withley Kerr lay bleeding, critically wounded by a gunshot to his stomach. According to reports, Cpl Kerr was shot around 12.30 am yesterday while responding to a report of armed robbery at Ruby Ellas Restaurant and Bar at Darrel Spring Road, Scarborough. Kerr, accompanied by WPC Leander, embarked on a search of the Scarborough area following the robbery and while proceeding along Mt Marie Road, they spotted two men fitting the description given by the robbery victim.

Kerr was reported to have pulled up alongside the men who pulled out guns and opened fire on the officers. Kerr was shot in the stomach. The officers took cover and returned fire and the suspects fled on foot. Kerr was taken to Scarborough General Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and remains warded. It was said that efforts were underway last night to have him stabilised and transferred to Trinidad. As a result of the incident, a combined team of officers from the Tobago Division and the Guard and Emergency Branch, who were airlifted from Trinidad, mounted a search in the Mt Marie area around 10 am yesterday. They were said to have been greeted by gunshots while searching some bushes and immediately returned fire.

The two wounded men were found in the area and were taken to Scarborough Hospital where one of them — Jovan Maxwell of LP 3 Garden Street, Morvant —was pronounced dead on arrival. A revolver with two spent rounds and four live rounds and a Magnum .357 handgun with three spent shells and three live rounds were found at the scene of the second shooting. Six rounds of ammunition was found in Maxwell’s pockets. The island’s capital was on a virtual lockdown yesterday afternoon as officers of the combined teamed combed the Scarborough vicinity for a fourth man involved in the incident who had managed to escape. Police were unsure if the dead man was responsible for the shooting of Cpl Kerr. Acting Insp Sharp and other officers are continuing investigations.