"Real people have to dead up in the Terrace by Thursday." Members of a John John gang ensured their leaders' word bore fruit when they shot and killed Plaisance Terrace resident Oba Jones on the bustling Independence Square minutes after midday struck yesterday.
Members of a John John gang ensured their leaders' word bore fruit when they shot and killed Plaisance Terrace resident Oba Jones on the bustling Independence Square minutes after midday struck yesterday.
The incident occurred around 12.05 p.m., on the Brian Lara Promenade, directly opposite Republic Bank and just across the road from the Police Mobile Unit.
Shoppers and many workers out on their lunch break were forced to scamper for cover when the four shots rang out.
One of the bullets struck 21-year-old Licensing Office clerk Lystra Wright in the lower left leg. Wright had just come out of the bank and was on her way to purchase lunch when she was hit.
Speaking with the Daily Express from her hospital bed, Wright said she did not recall hearing the gunshots. She said she was on her way to get lunch at the Voyager Mall, and realised she was shot when she felt a burning sensation in her leg and looked down and saw a small hole. She was in good spirits, saying the one thing that angered her was that she was unable to get her lunch.
The chaos continued and shoppers' anxiety was further heightened and when armed police officers chased after gang members through Port of Spain and along South Quay. Six of the men were held at City Gate where they entered and tried to mix with the flow of travellers.
When EMS (Emergency Medical Services) workers moved Jones' immobile body onto a stretcher, eyes still partially opened, the young doctor who had stopped to render assistance predicted that Jones would not have lived. There was the gaping hole to the left side of Jones' head and the bit of skull fell out when he was moved. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Port of Spain General Hospital.
Oba was the elder brother of Abina McCarthy, the two-year-old girl who was shot in the chest near the Central Market on March 23. It is believed that the bullet which struck the infant was meant for their (Oba and Abina's) father Ricardo McCarthy who sustained minor injuries then.
At Plaisance Terrace yesterday where Jones lived, a furious and hostile McCarthy was crying.
"Just tell them the same man who shoot my daughter in she chest, kill my son! That is all I have to say."
It is believed that Jones was killed to make a point and further torture McCarthy.
One relative told the Daily Express that there will be repercussions for the shooting.
"I sorry to say, but it not stopping here.
"All you will have plenty mother, from on the other side to talk to. Plenty of them will be crying," another man added, even as he wiped his own tears.
According to reports, the shooting evolved from an incident at the Treasury Building where a number of residents from John John had gathered to cash their Unemployment Relief Programme cheques.
At the scene of the shooting, even before the body was removed, one friend of the shot man said:
"They fall out with somebody by the Treasury and they come down the road and just buss shot on Oba."
The tearful witness told the story in snatches, using the aliases of gang members.
"It was 'Crock' team. Is 'Chaos' who fire the gun. He was moving with 'Nyron' and 'Winking'."
Al Plaisance, one of Jones' relatives, who also went to cash his cheque and witnessed the shooting made it a bit clearer. He said they went to cash their cheques when a young man whom they knew came up to them and complained that a member of the gang slapped him. Something occurred which led members of both gangs to take cover, "and one of them hide and he came out shooting. He hit Oba two bullets."
One investigator said there was some confrontation between the two groups and Jones was protecting one of his friends when his assailant came up behind him and shot him.
Last night, investigators said that they had 19 men in custody in connection with the incident. They have been unable to identify the shooter because they have not found a weapon. One officer said that the shooter must have thrown the weapon away in the chase, "so we now have to work it out".
Sgt. Harvey Jawahir is continuing investigations.
