Residents of the La Romaine community in southern Trinidad woke to the shocking sound of automatic gunfire early yesterday morning, when a planned police anti-crime operation ended with two men dead in a shootout with law enforcement at a local residential property.
The fatal confrontation unfolded just after 5:20 a.m. at a home on Ashley Street, a quiet side road off Pond Street, as officers from multiple specialized police units carried out a targeted sweep focused on curbing firearm-related offenses, robberies, and home invasions across the San Fernando police district. According to an official media statement released by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), the operation ran between 4 a.m. and 7:05 a.m., and was led by senior ranking officers including acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Francis, Senior Superintendent Hospedales, and acting Assistant Superintendent St Clair. Teams from the La Romaine Police Post, the force’s specialized Home Invasion Team, and the Southern Division Task Force took part in the raid.
When officers entered the property, the TTPS reported that they first encountered a male suspect who was openly carrying a loaded firearm. Despite repeated verbal orders to surrender and drop his weapon, authorities say the suspect raised the gun toward the responding officers. In response, the officers fired their service weapons, striking the suspect. While securing the premises moments later, officers found a second armed male suspect hiding in a bedroom, who also ignored repeated instructions to drop his weapon and pointed his gun at officers, according to the official statement. Officers again discharged their weapons, hitting the second suspect. Both injured men were rushed quickly to San Fernando General Hospital, where medical staff pronounced them dead on arrival.
One of the deceased was publicly identified as 27-year-old Nigel Mohammed, a local resident. The second man’s identity had not been confirmed by press time yesterday, though community members reported he was originally from the La Brea and Pleasantville areas. Following the shooting, crime scene investigators recovered two illegal firearms from the property: a fully loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol holding 15 rounds of ammunition, and a .38-caliber revolver loaded with five live rounds.
Visits to the neighborhood by reporters yesterday revealed visible evidence of the shooting: bloodstains remained on a living room recliner and the carpeted floor of the bedroom where the second shooting occurred. One local resident, who requested anonymity out of concern for personal safety, said he had just woken up when he heard three bursts of rapid gunfire from the property. “They didn’t fire any warning shots… We have children living all around here. This is scary. Things could have been handled differently,” the resident told reporters.
Mohammed’s family, who live a short distance away on Nice Street, have rejected the police official account and are demanding transparent justice. Aaron Mohammed, Nigel’s 34-year-old older brother, said his brother had turned his life around in recent years, and was working in construction to support his young son, who will turn three in October. Aaron acknowledged Nigel had a single previous marijuana possession case dating back to between 2017 and 2018, and had been complying with court requirements by checking in regularly at the local police station. “They say my brother and the other man shot at them, but there are no bullet holes anywhere to back that claim up,” Aaron said. “I talked to him just last night, and told him to keep building a good life for his little boy.”
Melissa Mohammed, 44, Nigel’s older sister, called the shooting an unjust killing. “They went into a house where people were sleeping. I don’t know what bad information they acted on,” she said. The family confirmed they plan to file a formal complaint with the independent Police Complaints Authority (PCA) to launch a full external investigation into the incident.
The shooting marks a grim milestone for Trinidad and Tobago this year: as of yesterday, 23 people have been killed in police-involved shootings across the country since January 1.