Diego man gunned down after robbery

According to reports, residents at Temple Street, St Lucien Road, Diego Martin, heard several gunshots around 3 am yesterday. On investigation, residents found the body of a man with four bullet wounds in the abdomen and under the left armpit.

The police were contacted and the dead man was later identified as Antonio Michael Miguel. Investigations revealed that Miguel, 32, was a repeat offender who had been jailed on different occasions for possession of firearms, ammunition, drugs, robberies and shootings. He was also a murder suspect.

Relatives at Bagatelle Road, Diego Martin, where the victim once lived, described him as a "nice, quiet, good person who became ignorant when pushed." They said he began keeping the "wrong company" when he was forced to move out of the house at Bagatelle Road.

Miguel was a father of one. His common-law wife is expecting another child.

Police believe Miguel fitted the description of a man who had just robbed a woman near the Diego Martin KFC outlet. Investigators theorise the part-time contractor was grabbed outside the outlet by relatives of a woman, taken elsewhere beaten, and executed.

Visiting the scene were Snr Supt Roach, ASP Julius, Insp Lezama and Sgt James-Martin. The latter is continuing investigations. Meanwhile, the bullet-riddled body a Venezuelan man was found in a pool of blood on Monday night. His murder was the 153rd.

The two deaths brought the murder figures to 154 in 158 days for 2005, with 29, or 18.3 percent solved.

In 2004, 103 murders had been recorded for the same period with a solvency rate of 30 or 29.1 percent.

The Port-of-Spain Division continues to record the most murders with 50, followed by Western Division with 33 and Northern Division with 29.