Senior Reporter
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
Two men are in hospital under police guard after being shot by police in separate incidents after attacking law enforcement officers.
In Port-of-Spain, police arrested a man and seized a loaded rifle after he fired at officers.
Members of the Inter-Agency Task Force were on patrol when they received a report around 9:30 pm on Friday about “strange men” at 42 Street, Mc Shine Lands.
During a foot patrol of the area, officers—Constables James, Giddens, and Forde, led by Corporal Boodhoo—were confronted by a man wearing a white jersey and black shorts, who was armed with a gun.
The officers reportedly told the man to drop his gun, but instead, he pointed his gun at the officers.
Before he could shoot, Cpl Boodhoo fired twice, hitting the man in the right arm. Police recovered an American Tactical Omni Hybrid Multical Rifle along with 21 rounds of 5.56 ammunition.
He was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where he remains in stable condition.
In the second incident, a cutlass-wielding man was shot in the leg in Sangre Grande during a police exercise yesterday morning. Police reported that, during several operations carried out between 1 am and 5 am, coordinated by Snr Supt Paponette and supervised by Insp Harper, officers went to Swan Quarry in search of arms and ammunition.
Around 1:45 am, while searching the home of a 46-year-old man, Sergeants Ramdeen, Francis, and Hosein, along with Cpl Mahadeo, were attacked. Police said the man swung a cutlass, hitting the helmet of one of the officers. During the attack, the man was shot in the left leg. Nothing illegal was found at the man’s house.