A brazen early-morning home invasion targeting a 70-year-old farmer in Central Trinidad has ended in a fatal shootout with law enforcement, leaving four alleged assailants dead, two in custody, and two fugitives still the subject of an intense manhunt as of Thursday night.
According to an official media statement from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), the violent incident began just before 4 a.m. yesterday, when the retired farmer from Cunupia was woken by a crashing noise at his rural property. When he investigated, he was confronted by a group of armed, masked men wearing gloves who immediately announced they were there to rob him. The attackers bound the elderly man before fleeing his home with just over TT $1,000 in cash and his personal mobile phone.
Thanks to quick alerts from local residents and intelligence-driven operations, TTPS officers backed by units of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force were able to intercept the suspect group not long after the robbery, near a neighborhood supermarket off Esmeralda Road on Ramnarine Trace. A violent exchange of gunfire broke out during the interception: three suspects were shot dead at the scene and later pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital, and two additional suspects were taken into police custody immediately. Two other members of the group managed to slip away from the confrontation, sparking a widespread search that continued through the day.
By 12:30 p.m. yesterday, search teams returning to comb three wooded areas adjacent to Esmeralda Road found the body of a fourth suspect, bringing the total number of fatalities to four. Law enforcement officials framed the operation as part of a sustained crackdown on rising violent property crime and invasive home robberies across the region, with senior leadership crediting seamless inter-agency coordination between police and military units for the rapid response.
When reporters from the Sunday Express visited the affected Esmeralda Road and Sampson Trace Extension communities yesterday, unmarked police cruisers were visible conducting regular patrols across the neighborhood and surrounding residential areas. One anonymous couple living on Charles Street, off Esmeralda Road, confirmed one of the fatally shot suspects was killed on their property, and offered praise for the speed of police response to the incident.
“It was a scary episode to go through; it was frightening for all the neighbours, but we worked together with the police and that solved the situation,” the woman of the couple told reporters. She added that the neighborhood had been on high alert for weeks: “Only the night before we began measuring burglar-proofing because we were hearing about these robberies inside here.” She recalled hearing gunshots early that morning but only realized the severity of the situation after neighbors called to alert her, after which she and her husband activated their home security cameras and saw a heavy police presence in the area. Local neighbors coordinated through group phone calls to share information, and when officers approached the couple’s yard, her husband opened their electronic gate to give police immediate access.
Another anonymous resident from Raghunanan Road said she had been alerted via a 3:21 a.m. WhatsApp message from a neighbor that the same gang of robbers had returned to the area and was attempting to break into another home. She told reporters police were called and arrived within 10 minutes to begin sweeping the area for the perpetrators, who residents told officers had hidden in thick brush behind local homes. Police moved along side roads toward the Cunupia area, stopping vehicles to search for the suspects, before temporarily pulling back. Around 5:30 a.m., residents reported hearing the distant sound of gunfire from the direction Ramnarine Trace. The resident said she believes the two remaining fugitives likely escaped through a network of overgrown brush and unmarked dirt tracks that connect Raghunanan Road to nearby residential streets in Cunupia.
Shortly after 1:30 p.m. yesterday, Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro released a public voice note advising all residents in the affected areas of Ramnarine Trace, Esmeralda Road, Sampson Road, Charles Trace and surrounding neighborhoods to remain vigilant, double-check home security measures, and immediately report any sighting of suspicious individuals to police via the emergency lines 999 or 555. He confirmed that the full weight of the TTPS is focused on locating the two escaped suspects.
Senior Superintendent Rudolph Bhagwandeen explained in a morning telephone interview that the operation was launched after two separate home invasion reports were received from adjacent communities, prompting a rapid mobilization of both police and military personnel. A loaded illegal firearm was recovered from the suspects during the search, he added.
Bhagwandeen noted that rising home invasion rates have become a troubling crisis for the Central Police Division over recent weeks, with repeated incidents reported across Chaguanas, Cunupia, Freeport, and the Las Lomas area north of the division’s jurisdiction. “Based on the trend of the home invasions and the modus of the persons committing the home invasions, we have identified the trends and have identified the increase,” he said, explaining that law enforcement had adjusted and ramped up anti-crime strategies in response to the spike.
Investigations had previously established that the responsible gang typically operates in groups of five, all wearing masks and gloves to avoid leaving evidence. Bhagwandeen confirmed two home invasions were carried out within blocks of each other on Wednesday night, and before yesterday’s confrontation, investigators were working to determine if two separate crews were operating in the region, or if a single network had split into two teams. It now appears the entire gang was active in the Esmeralda Road area yesterday morning, he said.
The targeted string of home invasions has stretched across the corridor between Longdenville and Raghunanan Road. In one of the most recent high-profile incidents on Friday, a 44-year-old Raghunanan Road woman was held at gunpoint and terrorized by three masked robbers in her own home.
When asked if the slain suspects had prior criminal records with the Central Division, Bhagwandeen confirmed they were already known to law enforcement. He acknowledged that persistent home invasions have left homeowners across Central Trinidad on edge for months, and that the issue is consistently the top topic of concern at community council meetings and police public town halls across the district.