Nigel John’s family and the police are still unclear as to the motive behind his killing at Todd’s Road, Chaguanas, on Thursday night. John’s relatives were also injured in the attack and up to last night remained in a critical condition in hospital.
However, the police have speculated that it could be related to the unprecedented recent upsurge in gun violence within the past weeks in Enterprise, Chaguanas.
According to police reports, John, 28, his relatives Isaiah and Jonathan Hall, 18, all of Hall’s Trace, Todd’s Road, were liming at a roadside parlour along the Main Road, around 8 pm, when a silver Nissan Wingroad pulled up and a backseat passenger fired several shots at them.
All three men were taken to the Chaguanas Health Facility where John subsequently died. Jonathan and Isaiah Hall were later transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope.
Police said while the incident was not in the Enterprise community, they suspected there might be a link, as a member of one of the warring Enterprise factions frequents the Todd’s Road area. However, he was not there during the shooting on Thursday.
Speaking with reporters yesterday, Leslie “Dapper” Hall, John’s father, said his son, a father of two, was warned as recently as Monday about liming in the area where he was shot.
“I warn him and tell him doh lime there because I heard talk, and Monday, I told him doh lime here because here could have shooting anytime,” Hall said.
Hall said his son was a construction worker who worked with him, adding that he loved cars.
John’s wife Kerri-Ann John said she last spoke with her husband hours before he was shot. She said her husband was not the type to say if he had been threatened or had had a falling out with anyone. John’s mother Charmaine John said her son was a quiet young man who kept to himself.
“He was a cool, quiet person who did not talk too much. I don’t know what happened, is like he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He came from work, went home and came back to lime.
“This is madness and the police want to do more but is as though they are afraid,” John said.
John’s killing has pushed the murder toll to 201 for the year, according to the Homicide Division count. The toll stood at 216 for the same period last year.