TT snipers?

Kevon Serette, of Chaconia Avenue, Morvant, was driving a Nissan Almera near the John John flyover when he was shot in the chest. According to a report in yesterday’s Newsday, police believe criminals in possession of either a sniper rifle or a high-powered weapon such as an AK-47 or AR-15 were testing its reach and fired shots at random at passing vehicles, with a bullet finding Serette’s chest.

To take aim at a moving target requires skill, which suggests something premeditated, even if the victim was randomly chosen.

Who would do such a thing? It is bad enough that illegal firearms may be involved, but if people are now using these weapons to harm members of the public indiscriminately, this is terror of a new kind. Is Trinidad and Tobago about to see its own spate of sniper attacks, such as the notorious DC sniper attacks that saw ten people killed in Washington over a period of three weeks? Given the recent case involving the discovery of 19 firearms in a barrel containing dog food at the El Socorro Bond area of Piarco Air Services, we have good reason to fear. In that case police found two assault rifles, two shotguns and 15 pistols and handguns.

It is likely these and other recent police discoveries are but the tip of the iceberg. For every gun seized, there may well be ten others in circulation illicitly. It is estimated by the University of Sydney that this country has 30,000 guns (inclusive of illegal firearms) and that the rate of civilian firearm possession per 100 people in the population is 2.2.

Our coastlines, lamentably, remain open. We do not have the benefit of radar equipment and it is possible that large amounts of illegal drugs and arms are being smuggled in. For the residents of Beetham Gardens, Sunday’s incident is just the latest in a spate of shootings. A 20-year-old man was shot in his eye in April while liming on 19th Street. In March, a 43-year-old man was murdered near his 23rd Street house. Garvin Douglas’ body was discovered in a room with his five-year-old daughter standing nearby.

Last October, Kendall Alexander, 23, was at 18th Street in Beetham Gardens when gunshots rang out at about 6.30 am. Residents, on checking, discovered Alexander’s body in a pool of blood on the side of the roadway.

In January, while partygoers were bringing in the new year with revelry, a six-year-old boy and a 69-year-old woman were shot dead by gunmen. The shootings appeared to have happened under cover of fireworks though some believed they were indiscriminate.

In no part of the country is crime new, but these incidents of murder and seemingly random violence are escalations. If incidents of robbery often worry drivers as they pass the area on the highway, they must now be concerned about something worse. The idea of stray bullets, travelling without motive.

Or sick snipers who would make sport of the lives of others for their own entertainment.

The truth is, this kind of dangerous environment is not unique to Beetham Gardens. One things the criminals have pointed out is this: they will strike anywhere. As long as there are people armed with guns, all are in danger.

In the end, it is also not just the guns that are the problem. It is the person behind each firearm. Consider this: while our rate of gun possession per 100 is 2.2, in the US it is 100. Yet the US murder rate per 100,000 is 3.9 while ours is 25.9.

Clearly the problem is social. Our institutions and our sense of the sacredness of life are failing us. We must ensure we get a hold of the facts of this latest, most worrying report.