The silence at Heights of Guanapo in Arima was broken by the sounds of wailing and cries from neighbours and the families of four siblings who were gunned down as they lay in their beds early yesterday.
Police said Faith Peterkin, 10, Arianna Peterkin, 14, Shane Peterkin, 17, and Tiffany Peterkin, 19, were asleep in their Gravel Road Extension, La Retreat Extension home around 12.25 am when it was stormed by gunmen.
When the shooting ended, the Peterkin siblings were dead and five others, including a 14-year-old girl, were wounded.
Residents told police a man in a black hoodie, believed to be one of the gunmen, was later seen running through nearby bushes.
Police from the Northern Division Task Force and the ambulance took the Peterkins to the Arima Hospital where they were declared dead.
Police from the Special Evidence Recovery Unit (SERU) visited the scene and found seven spent 9 mm shells, 13, 7.62 shells, 33, 5.56 shells and a live 9 mm round with TTPS markings.
When Guardian Media arrived in the community, shaken relatives were being consoled by neighbours. The grieving relatives declined to speak to media and asked reporters to leave the property.
However, several neighbours who asked not to be named, said the murders of the children had impacted the entire community, as they knew them growing up.
“I am devastated, I have no children of my own but I still feel it. I am traumatised, if they could come and kill four children, who is me?” one resident said.
Another resident said she was also deeply pained after hearing about the murders because she was a parent herself. She said the sound of gunfire frightened her enough to keep her inside and said she was hesitant to even venture outdoors hours after the attack.
“I hearing things like galvanise racking, I was frightened to death because it was only board house we living in,” she said.
“That is not nice. Those children that died, we mind them from small. It was nice, sweet children they killed. I does try to keep away because I have children. I didn’t even come out to see anybody moving the bodies.”
The resident added that a firmer police response was needed to protect the community, describing the murders of the children as “horrific.”
She said a more forceful approach to finding the killers was necessary, noting that the frequency of patrols was disappointing.
As relatives of the Peterkin siblings continued to mourn their deaths, workmen, who were building a wall at a property a few feet down the dirt track, continued seemingly undisturbed and declined to speak to reporters when approached.
Blanchisseuse/Santa Rosa councillor Roger Moore also visited the area to offer condolences to the family.
Speaking with reporters, Moore said the entire community was grieving with the family. He said the murders were painful to him as he knew the family.
Moore also noted that while there were safety concerns from residents, he was confident the police could maintain order.
“It’s not usually so intense with crime but there may be some situations happening within the community. I am certain the TTPS is looking in to see what is going on and we have no doubt that safety is returned,” he said.
“There will be a sense of fear, four people murdered will cause that, so the community is mourning but I do ask the community to grieve with us.
“It is important that we cry and deal with the grief as a community. However, I am certain the TTPS and institutions charged with responsibility to lend assistance will come out and return some normalcy.”
Moore said he visited the family to offer condolences and find out how he could assist them through his office.
While Guardian Media remained at the scene, several vehicles filled with uniformed and plain clothes police officers from various units were seen driving through the dirt tracks to get to the Peterkin family home.
Several officers were also seen speaking with relatives and residents as they continued their enquiries. As the officers continued their interviews, the sound of loud crying was heard coming from the family home in the otherwise quiet, rural community.
Contacted for comment, head of the Northern Division, Snr Supt Kerwin Francis, offered condolences to the family and vowed that police would continue to maintain a visible presence in their community.
“I want to assure those family members and the wider community of Guanapo that the police will spare no effort in conducting investigations into this matter, using all available resources to bring to justice those responsible for this act,” he said.
“To the wider community, I also give you the assurance that the police of the Northern Division, supported by other arms of the police and Defence Force, will also continue our 24 hour patrols in your community to ensure that a level of safety and security is maintained.”
Francis said the incident was an example of the ease with which guns were carried from one district to another.
Despite this, he said the police were still working to secure communities, noting that over 480 guns were seized for the year thus far.
Speaking with Guardian Media during a brief telephone interview, meanwhile, Arima MP Pennelope Beckles-Robinson, who knows the family, said she was devastated to hear about the murders.
Beckles-Robinson, who is attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said it was a difficult situation, as she had hoped to visit the family in person to lend support but was unable to do so.
Beckles-Robinson said she spoke with the mother of the murder victims and lamented the spate of violence in T&T.
“I did speak with the mother at least to get a sense... she was very distressed, because it’s four out of the five children that have passed and then there is one that is still critical and the others are also family members... nieces and nephews,” Beckles-Robinson said.
“When you are MP for an area and something like that happens, especially in that particular environment, that area it is really very heartbreaking,” she said.
“You begin to wonder what takes place in the minds of people, because if you know that area, you must know there are children you are attacking. It’s almost as if... people like they don’t care. Everyone becomes collateral damage.
“For parents in particular, when you have five children and you lost four in such cruel circumstances you can well understand how painful it can be.”
Beckles-Robinson said while it was understandable the family would not want to remain in the house where the murders happened, the relatives were not ready to discuss alternative living arrangements.
In a media release yesterday afternoon, Arima Mayor Balliram Maharaj described the murders as “heinous” and called on residents to rally together in the fight against crime.
Maharaj, who during his swearing-in ceremony last week vowed to work to create a safer space for visitors and residents of Arima, said he was deeply saddened by the murders.
“We want persons to feel safe in Arima again. Crime has no place here. Crime is everybody’s business so we need to stop the blame game and join forces to tackle this crime scourge.”
Director of the Children’s Authority of T&T, Sheldon Cyrus, also condemned the murders and lamented the results of such violence.
He noted that murders created further societal problems by damaging communities and their residents.
“The fallout of the war that citizens are waging against each other is leading to broken families. Children also are forced to grow up without their parents and relatives, and parents and relatives are grieving the loss of their children,” Cyrus said in a media release.
“The psychological toll that all this loss and grief takes on our society is wide reaching. The impact goes even further, as our children are now growing in a space where they must be hyper-vigilant - unable to play, rest or even sleep peacefully in their homes.
“Living with that fear is very damaging and will have repercussions for our children’s future.”
Cyrus also urged communities to rally together in an bid to ensure greater co-operation and protection of children.
As of yesterday afternoon, the murders of the Peterkin siblings brought the murder toll to 431 for the year thus far, compared to 430 at the same period last year.
Police from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region II are continuing enquiries.