All four suspects believed to have been involved in the shooting deaths of 16-year-old Darshan Ramnauth and another man in St. Augustine on Tuesday have been arrested.
Police said the suspects included an 18-year-old man and a 20-year-old man, both of Ballantyne Road, Five Rivers, Arouca; a 21-year-old man from Manimore Road, Arouca; and a 24-year-old from Sixth Street in Five Rivers, Arouca.
They were held by a team of North Central Division officers led by ACP Mystar, Senior Supt Ramphall, Supt Powder and ASP Ramharack.
Officers received information provided by the Special Investigation Unit following the double homicide which led them to Bertie Road in Five Rivers around 3.30pm on Tuesday.
While there, they observed four people near a dark-colored vehicle that matched the description of the one used in the double homicide.
Officers called on the group to surrender, and police said the 18-year-old grabbed a firearm and pointed it at them.
The officers returned fire and the 18-year-old was hit in the left leg.
He dropped the firearm.
Two others surrendered at the scene while the last suspect fled on foot.
The officers gave chase, but the suspect was able to evade the police for a moment.
Officers called for assistance and a network patrol was carried out with the support of officers from the North Central Task Force, Air Support Unit, Dog Unit, Emergency Patrol Unit and Arouca police.
Within two hours, the fourth suspect was detained.
This operation also involved Insp Highly, Insp Greene, Insp Rampallad (Air Support), Sgt La Pierre, Sgt Pamphille, Cpl Bedase, Cpl Morang, PC Mitchell, PC Pierre and others.
The injured teenager was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex where he is under police guard.
Police said at Five Rivers where the suspects were found they seized and recovered an AK-47 rifle with three magazines; two Beretta pistols; a Taurus pistol; three extended pistol magazines; three rifle magazines; 42 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition; 42 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition; 39 rounds of 9 mm ammunition; five bulletproof vests; LED strobe light; a police siren; a bull horn; as well as several outfits consisting of “Marvin Gay” hats, gloves, black hoodies, jeans, camouflage pants.
ACP congratulates the officers
Speaking to the Express yesterday, ACP Wayne Mystar commended the officers for their quick response, with special mention of Sgt La Pierre and Sgt Pamphille, for their quick work in apprehending the four suspects.
Background
Police do not believe Ramnauth was the target of the gunmen.
He went outside around 3pm on Tuesday after hearing gunshots outside his home on Warner Street in St Augustine to check on his grandmother who lived next door.
However, the gunmen saw him on the road and chased him.
Ramnauth, a Form Five student at St Augustine High School, was shot multiple times while trying to escape the suspects and died at the scene.
The body of another man, known in the community only as ‘Geno’, was also found at the scene, and two other people were found bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds.
They were both taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope for treatment.
One man, a 50-year-old from Orange Grove, St Augustine, was shot in the upper right arm. His condition is described as stable.
A 30-year-old man from Freeman Road in St Augustine was shot five times – twice in the right arm, once in the left arm, once in the upper back and once in the neck. His condition is described as critical.
A team of officers led by ACP Wayne Mystar, W-Sgt Davis, Sgt Ramjohn and Cpl Rahim, were among the officers at the scene.
Crime scene investigators from the Special Evidence Unit recovered 54 spent shell casings, eight deformed shell casings and two bullet fragments at the scene.
Cpl Rahim is continuing to investigate.
Police told Express that they have key intelligence that this incident was gang-related.
