Worker gunned down at St James Medical Complex

Jensen La Vende

For the second time this year, gunmen disregarded the sanctity of a medical institution and murdered someone on the compound.

The latest killing took place at 10.30 am yesterday, when two men approached St James Medical Complex worker Jamaal Watts and one of them shot him.

Eyewitnesses told Guardian Media that Watts, a daily paid worker from Belle Eau Road, Belmont, was cutting grass on a field at the back of the complex when he was shot.

The men reportedly drove into the compound, parked, came out and looked at Watts for some time before approaching him. One of the men and Watts had a brief scuffle before he was shot. The two men then ran off, jumped in the car and escaped.

Watts was rushed to the nearby Accident and Emergency Department, where he died while being treated.

Workers said they had to scamper for safety during the shooting, which forced the evacuation of some staff and patients.

One patient who fled after the shooting said, “It was just crazy.”

She said the shooting left her feeling uneasy but said her faith in God kept her feeling safe.

“I feeling safe but not a hundred per cent. I will always watch my surroundings and try to be mindful. Even at the hospital or your own home, you are not safe. But for me, I does ask God to cover me and watch over me.”

Watts’ death is the second at a North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) facility, after one man was murdered at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital in June, after he had been taken there for treatment following a shooting in Belmont in which three of his friends were killed.

Gang-related shooting

Up to press time, police had labelled Watts’ murder was gang-related. However, they could not say if Watts himself was a member of any gang.

Police said preliminary reports suggest that Watts’ killing was linked to the shooting death of Jahvannie “Vannie” James, 21, of Upper St Barb’s Road, Belmont. James and a 31-year-old St Francois Valley Road man were shot while fixing a car at Darceuil Street, Belmont, last Thursday.

Commenting on yesterday’s killing, Trinidad and Tobago National Nurses Association (TTNNA) president Idi Stuart appealed to the criminals to leave a safe space for all.

“What was once a sacred place, a place where these individuals may not come in to do particular crimes, they have lost that ability to see that the hospital is a place that they themselves may need help at, at some time. We want to speak to those individuals to let them know, please allow hospital institutions to be that safe space. It is for both sides and for all persons, where persons can come in and do their work and see about your own family, which we know you would want happen,” Stuart said.

With yesterday’s killing and the murders at the PoSGH in June, Stuart said the atmosphere at the NWRHA was getting worse daily. He also recalled staff members having to report to police that they had received envelopes with bullets in them.

The June 2 murder saw Kevin King being followed from Gonzales and killed at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

King and his three friends, Jayden Reyes, Abdul Williams, and Jonathan Arjoon, were part of a group shot at while liming along Lange Street, Gonzales. After King was taken to the hospital, gunmen attacked him again on the compound.

After the murder at the PoSGH a gate was installed to prevent easy access to the Accident and Emergency Department, along with other security measures.

NWRHA safety concern

In a media release yesterday, NWRHA CEO Anthony Blake said immediately after Watts’ killing, the facility’s emergency security protocols were activated, with the TTPS arriving soon after.

Blake also met with relatives of Watts and staff and offered counselling to both.

Stuart said after the June 2 murder, his association had raised security concerns about both the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and St James Medical Complex.

“Is only last week we would have expressed our concerns when there was another close shooting at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, and we identified both the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and the St James Medical Complex as very high-risk areas, in addition to a number of the health facilities where nursing personnel is expected to operate under the NWRHA.”

He said the time has come for decisive action before it gets out of control.

“We really hope that the Ministry of the National Security will meet with the association at some point in time and implement some of the recommendations we have made prior to this incident,” he said.

Stuart said private security may not be best suited to address the current security issues and suggested state entities such as the National Maintenance Training and Security Company Limited (MTS).

He said after the PoSGH killing, security suggestions were dismissed by the authorities, who said the hospital should not mirror a prison. Stuart said that thinking may now need to be revisited.

“Those facilities, particularly Port-of-Spain and St James Medical Complex may need to be walled off. It used to be once a year something like this happens, it has moved to once a month and now it’s almost on a weekly basis. Let it not reach on a daily basis, where we have these turf wars as it were.”

In a voice note message yesterday, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh offered condolences to Watts’ family and promised the NWRHA will work with the police to bring the killers to justice.

“We are assisting the TTPS with the investigation and will do all that is possible to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Deyalsingh said.

Also in a media release yesterday, the TTPS condemned the brazen attack. The release said the police are committed to bringing those responsible to justice and urged anyone with information to come forward as investigations continue.

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