Senior Reporter
shane.superville@guardian.co.tt
Residents of Scorpion Alley, Carenage, had to run for cover on Tuesday night when gunmen stormed a house in the area, killing two brothers.
The attack came less than 24 hours after Elijah Ferguson and Leon Sylvester were gunned down in the same area on Monday night.
Police said Joshua George, 23, and Israel Letren, 32, were at a house around 9 pm when a group of gunmen ran in, shooting them several times before running away.
On checking, residents saw George bleeding on the floor of the kitchen and Letren bleeding in the bathroom.
Western Division police were called in with a district medical officer who declared both men dead.
Crime scene investigators also visited the scene and found 97 spent 5.56 shells.
Investigators suspect the murders may be part of an ongoing gang war in Carenage but Justina Letren, the mother of both men, insists they were not part of any feud.
Speaking with Guardian Media at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, the elder Letren said she felt empty having lost two of her sons in a single incident. She had to be consoled by relatives and funeral home staff at the centre.
Letren said she was at home when she was about to listen to a Gospel programme on the radio that evening when she heard the sound of gunfire nearby.
“I home and I hearing this thing and it’s like raindrops on your house the kind of shots that was fired.
“I just start to hear this noise.
“The kind of guns they are using ... my God. Where are they getting these things?
“It sounds like the kind of weapons the police have sometimes.
“It is very hurtful to see my two boys have to go down that way.”
Letren said she tried to call her sons on their cellphones but did not get any answers.
She then called another relative nearby and became worried when she heard screaming.
Letren said she ventured out to see for herself what happened despite warnings from her husband over the possible dangers outside.
George worked as a taxi driver and Letren worked as a security guard.
The elder Letren said while she did not know either one of her sons to be involved in criminal activities, she called on young men who may be involved in crime to develop a stronger relationship with God.
“Put down the guns and pick up Jesus.
“Let Jesus be our weapon of warfare. It (the guns) not doing anything for us.”
Guardian Media also spoke to a relative who was near the house where George and Letren were killed.
The relative, who asked not to be named, said she jumped into a nearby drain to avoid the killers.
She said the brothers were liming at the house when the gunmen were spotted nearby.
“There was a guy in front of me, was facing in the opposite direction to me and I heard him say, ‘Ay look them coming’ and he began to run.
“I ran too, because they started to shoot from behind me.
“I stayed in that drain until I didn’t hear the shots anymore.”
The relative said Letren was killed in the same house as his 11-month-old son.
She said the family was preparing to celebrate the child’s first birthday in September.
She lamented the spate of crime in the community, noting that up to yesterday morning, shopkeepers and taxi drivers were reluctant to venture into Scorpion Alley.
She said the difficulty in accessing transport prompted several residents to walk from their homes in Upper Abbe Poujade Street to the Western Main Road where taxis would be available.
“I don’t know how to watch people again in that community because everybody is saying it’s the people right around responsible.
“Nobody want to come up there, nobody working taxi.
“You have to walk down the road to get a car.
“Everybody is in shock.”
