Police are probing three murders which occurred yesterday, including the brazen killing of a man in the car park of a popular shopping outlet.
According to police, a man was shot and killed while in the car park of PriceSmart on Mausica Road, D’abadie, yesterday, in full view of shoppers.
Police and witnesses told Guardian Media that around 11 am, Mark Rennie, 41, arrived at the outlet and had just exited his vehicle when he was confronted by three armed men.
As the men opened fire on Rennie, who attempted to run towards the Payless outlet located next to PriceSmart, employees and customers began screaming and running towards the back of the store as bullets struck the glass panes at the front.
Rennie was shot in the head and collapsed on the ground in the parking lot, as the suspects entered a waiting vehicle and sped off.
Officers were quickly on the scene and cordoned off the area with shopping carts.
Shoppers were forced to navigate around the police, loading their groceries at an active crime scene. However, some curious shoppers braved the rain and the makeshift police barrier to catch a glimpse of the body, which remained at the scene for more than one hour before it was removed.
Rennie was taken to the Arima District Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The shooting resulted in Payless suspending operations at that location for the rest of the day.
Payless Country Manager for T&T, Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Jerus Mohammed, issued a statement shortly after the incident, in which he said, “At this time our store at PriceSmart Mausica remains closed today due to an incident unrelated to our store, which occurred on the compound. All of our customers and associates are safe.”
A PriceSmart manager declined to speak to Guardian Media at the scene.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, a Sea Lots man was gunned down yesterday morning.
The victim was identified as Josiah Lincoln Greenidge, 32.
Police said residents reported to officers that they heard gunshots around 9 am, following which Greenidge’s bullet-riddled body was found a short while later.
And just a few hours later at Oropune Gardens, Piarco, a man known as “Fats” was shot dead in one of the townhouses.
The murder occurred just after 2 pm at 5th Street, where a popular fruit shed is located.
A 15-second video captured by a resident and posted to social media shortly after, showed three men running towards a waiting vehicle just as the gunshots were heard coming from inside the building.
The car then sped off along the circular.
Investigations are continuing into all three killings.