Anna-Lisa Paul
A 39-year-old man is hospitalized in critical condition after he was shot by police on Thursday night, during an alleged confrontation outside the Carenage home of popular dancehall artiste Taryll Mical Swan who is widely referred to as Prince Swanny.
The shooting was the second such incident to occur for the week, at the singer and songwriter’s residence at Francois Street.
On September 19 around 1.15 am, gunmen converged on the residence and opened fire following reports that Swan was at the location.
While it is still not known if anyone was at the house during that shooting, police confirmed two cars that had been parked on the road in front the house, were damaged.
Unconfirmed reports indicate over 100 rounds of assorted ammunition were recovered at the scene then.
Conducting an anti-crime exercise between 10 am and 10 pm on September 22 - officers of the Western Division Task Force responded to a call around 7 pm, that men with firearms were seen outside Swan’s house at Francois Street.
Led by Snr Supt Remy, Insp Grant and Sgt Jack - Cpls Robinson and Khan, along with PCs Clement, Hollingsworth, Seebaran, Dennis, Ottley, Bocage, Fidler and Laloo - arrived to find the suspect holding what appeared to be a Mac 11 sub-machine gun with a red laser light, running along a flight of stairs.
As he headed towards two officers that were patrolling along a track on the exterior of the property, the suspect allegedly pointed the weapon at them and fired.
Ignoring the officers’ commands to stop even as they identified themselves, the suspect allegedly responded, “Wah police,” even as he continued to fire.
The officers returned fire in keeping with the TTPS’s Use of Force Policy.
As the suspect fell to the ground, the officers went to his assistance.
They took him to the St James Medical Centre, following which he was transferred to the Port-of-Spain General hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and was warded under police guard.
Officers also recovered the sub-machine gun at the scene.
A further search of the area was done and officers found a red and black bag knapsack containing a black hoodie, one police hat, and 2 velcro adhesive patches with the words POLICE on them.
T&T artistes associated with the Trinibad genre, have found themselves increasingly becoming targets of warring gangs.
Trinibad is the name that artistes call dancehall in Trinidad, a derivative that was inspired by Jamaican dancehall music - and focuses on the grimy side of crime, with many artistes releasing and promoting “gunman” tunes.
Trinibad artistes have been under attack in T&T since July 2020, and recent killings have underscored the brazen attempts some persons are willing to go to, to get their mark.
Between July 2020 to present - seven Trinibad artistes were killed in separate incidents.