Three shots to the head, execution-style, was how a gunman ended the life of Couva mother of one Stacy Roopan, who was gunned down outside her son's preschool on Monday afternoon.An autopsy yesterday confirmed that Roopan, 25, a nursing student at the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of T&T (Costaatt), was shot seven times, three at close range.
Roopan, who lived at De Montbrun Street, Balmain, was at the corner of Isaiah Street and Rowano Drive, on her way to meet her three-year-old son Christiano Harickdeo, when a gunman in a white car opened fire on her.Forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov explained that Roopan most likely saw her killer and turned around to run, as the bullet wounds were in her back.
"As soon as she saw the firearm pointed at her, she turned around and started to run away. The first bullet entered the back and this bullet perforated the left lung, heart and liver, because the direction was back to front," Alexandrov said yesterday."At the same time she got a couple of wounds to her hands, because she was running and one perforated her thigh. Because she was losing blood, she went into haemorrhagic shock and collapsed.
"She was then approached by the assailant and she sustained three near-contact gunshot wounds to the head. This is what we call homicide execution-style."Although two bullets were recovered during the autopsy, he said they were so deformed it was difficult to tell what kind of ammunition was used. Crime scene detectives said they recovered several 9 mm shell casings at the scene.
Roopan's killing came less than two months after an intruder broke into her car, stealing several personal documents, and left her a death threat. In a handwritten note, the intruder warned Roopan that she would be killed if she testified in an ongoing court matter which relatives have linked to a wrongful arrest case she was involved in.But police yesterday said they have no report of Roopan's death threat, while her father, Lutchman Roopan, told the Guardian yesterday he was unsure whether she had made a report.
"She always told me that she would handle it, so I don't know if she reported it to police," Lutchman said.