Two men identified only as “Russel” and “Smokey”, said to be from Sangre Grande and Arouca respectively, were shot dead by police inside a garden camp at Guayaguayare yesterday morning.
Ken Jones, who owns the camp, told Guardian Media that his neighbours heard the gunshots and alerted him.
“When I came up to go by me, I saw a lot of police. These two fellas who were staying with me, the police shot them to death,” Jones revealed.
He said he had left the two men in his garden camp.
“I wasn’t there all night. I came back around 6 am, and that was when I saw the police at the camp in La Brea Village,” Jones said.
He mentioned that certain people had been fighting him for land but he was unsure whether this dispute was linked to the double killing.
“I don’t know why the police shot these fellas. I don’t know if they had anything with the police or if this was related to the land dispute,” Jones said.
He explained that both men had come to the community to work in his garden and the one named Russell was a family man.
He said he now fearful for his life and afraid to return to his camp.
“I know Russel to be a family man. He has a wife and children. He is an electrician, and I know him to be humble and quiet. He wasn’t violent, and I trusted him enough to leave him in my camp,” Jones said.
He admitted that he did not know Smokey well.
Jones also said as far as he knew, neither Smokey nor Russel carried guns.
“The only thing they carry around is a cutlass. That is their tool for the garden. These men had no guns or anything,” he explained.
Prior to the shooting, Jones said, the police officers came to question them, as they were strangers in the area.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer said the shooting occurred around 2 am. He said officers from the Mayaro Police Station went to La Brea Village after receiving information about a dispute.
He said upon reaching a wooden shed off a dirt track, the police officers identified themselves but were greeted with gunfire from inside the camp.
The officers allegedly returned fire in self-defence.
Police said there were three people in the camp.
One man escaped and when the officers checked, they found the two others dead. Investigators said they found a shotgun near the bodies.
Autopsies will be done on the bodies today at the Forensic Science Centre, St James.
Sgt Mohammed and officers of the Mayaro Criminal Investigation Department are continuing investigations.
