Penal man murdered in Belmont

A 28-year-old Penal man was shot dead in Belmont yesterday.  The dead man, according to his driver’s permit, is Wayne Cassius Allum, of Loukie Trace, Penal.

Allum’s murder is the second by shooting that occurred within a near 19-hour period, the last one being National Housing Authority (NHA) sanitation worker, Vernon Hospedales, 52, who was killed in his home in what police said is a clear case of robbery. In Allum’s case, police said around 2.50 pm yesterday, a resident heard a single gunshot coming from the vicinity of Walcott Lane and Belle Eau Road, Belmont. The resident checked then saw Allum’s body slumped over the steering wheel in his white B13 Nissan Sentra vehicle, which was near a garbage dump. He had been shot once on the right side of his head. Police said the resident then contacted a police officer who lives near the scene of the shooting.  The officer took the bleeding Allum to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (PoSGH), where he succumbed to injuries around 3.20 pm.

A party of officers headed by Insp Glen Hackett and including PC Jodah of the Belmont Criminal Investigations Depart-ment (CID) later visited the scene. Police said they were trying to determine what Allum was doing in the area.  They have ruled out a robbery motive, saying that the man’s wallet containing an undisclosed quantity of cash has been recovered. At the scene yesterday, residents gave conflicting reports, with one saying he heard several shots, while another one said he heard one shot. They, however, agreed that they never saw the man in the area, and believed it was a drug deal gone sour. Investigations are continuing.