Murder at Lucky Jordan

In another daring daylight shooting in the capital, two masked gunmen cooly walked up to 36- year-old Steve Morgan, who was gambling at a table, and shot him six times in the head, chest and arms.

The murder at the club located on the corner of Prince and George streets took place at about 12.40 pm, less than an hour after hundreds of Roman Catholic’s took part in the traditional Corpus Christi procession at Independence Square. Archbishop Gilbert had been moved to comment on the murder rate and noted that undertakers “just pick the bodies up and carry them away day after day.”

Undertakers took Morgan’s body away at about 3.30 pm after it was examined by District Medical Officer Dr Sanjay Pooran, who had arrived half-an-hour before. Coincidentally, as the undertakers removed Morgan’s body, a woman who said she was his friend began to pray out loud and quoted from the Bible.

“Mothers take care of your children, we are living in evil times, you need to protect your sons, before they are all killed,” she repeated several times.

The shooting is the latest in the capital, as last Saturday afternoon PC Neil Wilson was shot while trying to apprehend an armed bandit who had robbed a store at New City Mall. Recent shootings in Port-of-Spain have drawn a strong outcry from citizens including the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) who believe the Government should divert some of its spending on billion-dollar infrastructural projects to strengthening the security of the city.

The Archbishop’s observation that citizens seemed to have lost their sense of values appeared to be borne out by the actions of curious onlookers at the murder scene, some of whom ducked under the crime scene tape and leaned on a car the police said belonged to Morgan to get a closer look as crime scene technicians in white suits went about searching for evidence. Some people also crossed the police line to go and buy beers at a bar next to the Lucky Jordan.

An eyewitness to the shooting said about 30 gamblers were in a keen game of wappie when “these two men just walk in, dry, dry so and fired several shots at the man (Morgan).”

“I stood frozen, because I thought it was a joke, but when the man slumped to the ground, and the killers started running away, then I realised that I had witnessed a murder,” the man said nervously.

The eyewitness said Morgan arrived at the club on Wednesday night and he had an argument with a woman over money. The eyewitness claimed the woman told Morgan, “I go send me homies for you tomorrow (Thursday), and let me see how much money you go argue for again.”

Investigators confirmed they are searching for a woman who may be able to assist them in the case. Acting ASP Reyes, Inspectors Holder and Boyce, Sgt Sahadeo Singh were among the investigators at the crime scene. Morgan’s death has taken the murder toll to 183, according to police statistics.