Boboshanti gunned down

A BOBOShanti Priest became the country’s 357th murder victim for the year when he was gunned down inside a Tunapuna house on Saturday night. Kenny Guadeloupe, 22, alias “Priest Kenya”, was reportedly holding a “Sabbath prayer” with friends when he met his violent death. According to police reports, at about 9.30 pm Guadeloupe who hails from South Trinidad, was with friends at First Street in Maingot Road Extension, Tunapuna. While Guadeloupe and his two Boboshanti followers were talking outside the house, they were confronted by a gunman and ran into the house. However, another gunman broke down a door of the house and cornered the three.

The gunman then shot Guadeloupe several times about the body before fleeing the scene with the other gunman. The wounded man was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he died while receiving treatment. Guadeloupe made a living selling nuts in front of  Nestle Trinidad Limited on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway. Police sources said the murder was gang-related and a male relative of Guadeloupe was himself shot in the chest and leg last Friday. Maingot Road residents who heard the gunshots said they were living in a state of fear. “We are living in fear for our lives,” a female relative said. “There are many people being killed around here and it is always some youths who are doing the killing,” one man who lives in the community said. No arrests have been made and Tunapuna police are continuing investigations.

In an unrelated incident, two persons remain warded at Port-of-Spain General Hospital following a drive-by shooting yesterday morning. According to reports, several men from Schuller Street in Glencoe threw a barrel in the middle of the Western Main Road. Two men who were travelling in a car heading east along the Western Main Road, opened fire on the group who had placed the barrel in the road, hitting a man and woman about their body. The victims were taken to the hospital for treatment and are said to be in stable condition. It is not known why they placed the barrel in the road. No arrests have been made in this incident and Carenage police are continuing investigations.