Shane Superville
senior reporter
shane.superville@guardian.co.tt
A police exercise in St Joseph on Monday morning led to the deaths of two men.
Police said officers of various elite tactical units began an exercise on San Pedro Road, off the Maracas Royal Road, at around 5 am where they searched several houses.
While searching one house, the police reported that they were shot at by two men.
The officers returned fire, killing both men.
The men have been identified as Mudada Cyrus, 33, and Junior Charles, 42.
Police said both were well known to them and were believed to be members of a known gang in northern Trinidad.
Police said the men were also identified as being "persons of interest" in several crimes in Train Line Village, St Augustine.
Two guns were also found and seized on the men's bodies.
At least one marijuana field was found in the same area nearby.
Police arrested seven men and a woman during the exercise whose ages ranged from 20 to 47-years-old.
As of 11 20 am, officers were awaiting members of a specialised unit to clear two marijuana fields of any trap guns or other obstruction.
The exercise involved officers from the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF), the Multi Operational Police Squad and the National Operation Task Force.
When Guardian Media visited the scene yesterday, several residents were seen looking at police officers as they secured the crime scene but were hesitant to talk.
One man, who claimed to be a relative of one of the men involved in the shooting, said that he could not divulge the person's identity without first confirming whether or not he was actually dead.
"I can't say anything for certain until I am sure that it is my family member. For now I can't say anything."
Despite this, the relative disputed the official account given by police and claimed that the police shot first on entering the house without provocation.
"All I know is the police aren't supposed to be shooting as they enter a house the way that they did."
Guardian Media tried speaking with another resident who said while the men may have been known to police, they were not a problem to residents in their neighbourhood.
"Nobody is perfect but they used to defend the people around here from outsiders who wanted to come and cause trouble."
When Guardian Media visited the house where the purported shootout happened, no one was seen around.
One neighbour said she did not know much about what happened despite being at home around the time of the shooting.
"I only know them to play music. I don't know much else about who they were or anything. I try to keep to myself."
Asked how she felt about a police-involved shooting happening on the same street as her home, the woman said, "I feel normal."