Police are investigating the alleged assault of residents of the Seventh Avenue Malick community, by men they believe to be members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) over the weekend.
Head of the North-Eastern Division, Senior Superintendent Mervyn Edwards, said yesterday that he could not confirm if the men were in fact from the Defence Force but added that he had instructed the Morvant Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to investigate the allegations.
He said the shell casings found in the area where the alleged altercation occurred did not bear any markings from the TTDF. However, Edwards said residents were interviewed and their statements recorded.
Guardian Media visited the area yesterday and while residents declined to give their names, they claimed that men, allegedly from the TTDF, discharged firearms into the air and assaulted some of them.
A circulating WhatsApp message pointed to an alleged love triangle as the reason for the alleged attack. This was also related by residents yesterday. The message also claimed that a drunk man got into an altercation with a man and a woman on Saturday morning and then left.
The message said later that day, five men, allegedly all dressed in TTDF uniform and in full gear, began threatening villagers.
The message and residents claimed the Defence Force vehicle went to one of the villagers’ homes, where a group of young men were playing dominoes, and one person was allegedly shot and others badly beaten.
The injured were taken to the hospital for medical treatment.
Guardian Media reached out to the TTDF’s Corporate Communications Unit for a response but up to late yesterday evening none was forthcoming.