Businessman Eli Hajahlay, 51, who was one of three men shot at the Residence nightclub in One Woodbrook Place in Port-of-Spain early Saturday morning, remains in critical condition at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.
Investigators told Guardian Media that Hajahlay underwent emergency surgery for several hours after being shot in the head and is now being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in a serious but stable condition.
Homicide sources dismissed social media reports posted by a former police officer that Hajahlay had passed away late Sunday night.
One of Hajahlay’s friends, who did not want to be named, said, “I just left the hospital and Eli is fully alive and doing better again today. Stop listening to social media and the news, it is wrong, our brother is alive and doing well, keeping praying and give him all the positive energy, we need it.”
Hajahlay, along with 34-year-old Nikhil Luthra, was shot in the head and Roger Ramdeo, 34, was shot in the stomach, after a masked gunman opened fire on the trio while they sat in one of the nightclub’s cabanas situated outside the club.
Luthra died within hours of being shot at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.
Police said the lone gunman, who was sitting in a car, walked up to the nightclub wearing a hoodie and a bandanna around his face and climbed up on a corner wall and opened fire on the men, who were sitting inside the corner cabana.
The gunman then ran to a nearby car and fled the scene.
Homicide detectives have since obtained CCTV footage from one of the cameras mounted on an electrical pole nearby showing the brazen shooting and the getaway made by the gunman and his accomplices in a white Toyota Axio motorcar bearing false number plates.
Senior police sources said they believe it was a hit but are still unable to indicate which of the men was the intended target and are exploring several theories.
They are also looking for a person who was inside the nightclub, who they suspect tipped off the gunman as to the intended target and their location.
Luthra’s mother made an impassioned plea to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on Saturday to do something about crime and save the youths before it’s too late. She made the call while speaking with another media house.