PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Police shot and killed two men and seized several firearms following a sting operation into a spate of robberies with criminals using the social media, Facebook, to lure victims.
A police statement said another person had also been detained in operation at Barataria on Tuesday’s outskirts of the capital.
The statement said police officers had responded to a Facebook advertisement in which a vehicle was being offered for sale.
“Acting on information, police officers proceeded to 11th Street, Barataria, where two suspects, who were allegedly armed with firearms, approached an unmarked police vehicle and pointed the firearms at plainclothes police officers,” the statement said.
It said other police officers, who were in another unmarked police vehicle parked nearby, announced their presence, and the men allegedly pointed the firearms in the direction of those officers.
“The lawmen, in keeping with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s (TTPS) Use of Force Policy, discharged their weapons in the direction of the two suspects. One of the men then took off running …where he allegedly dropped a firearm onto the roadway. He then …entered a white Nissan in an attempt to escape.
“Police officers gave chase after the vehicle, and the suspect pointed a firearm in their direction.
The officers, again, in keeping with the TTPS’ Use of Force Policy, discharged their firearms in the direction of the man, wounding him. “
The statement said both suspects were then conveyed to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
The police said their identities remain unknown at this time and that the 38-year-old driver of the vehicle is assisting with their investigations. The police said they had also recovered three firearms.
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