Jada Loutoo
POLICE arrested two males and seized two gel blaster guns after a police-eager taking pictures in Cunupia on January 5.
The incident took space at Brian Avenue, Chin Chin Property at spherical 12.20 am.
In line with a police document, officers spoke back to a tip about six armed males within the apartment. In the midst of the operation, they encountered two males dressed in dark attire, one carrying a skull conceal, allegedly running towards them with weapons reminiscent of firearms.
Despite being ordered to fall their weapons, one amongst the males reportedly fired on the police.
Essentially basically based on the police service’s employ of force policy, an officer fired six shots, subduing the males, who had been then arrested. The seized gel blaster guns, designed to shoot water-filled pellets, carefully resembled staunch firearms.
In the midst of the operation, a 17-one year-extinct attending a nearby apartment birthday party suffered a head damage. He became treated on the Chaguanas Health Facility and later discharged from the Eric Williams Clinical Advanced.
The scene became processed by CSI personnel, who recovered six 9mm casings and one projectile. One officer also got medical attention for minor accidents.
Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher had issued a warning on December 28, 2024, against the misuse of gel blasters. She emphasised that though marketed as toys, gel blasters reminiscent of firearms are prohibited in public spaces owing to their potential to motive panic or wound.
Harewood-Christopher warned that utilizing imitation weapons to threaten, intimidate, or wound others constitutes a prison offence. She urged oldsters to supervise children and reiterated that police possess been directed to take quick action against misuse of such objects.
“The public is reminded that utilizing any item, whether staunch or imitation, to threaten, intimidate, or wound others constitutes a prison offence beneath the regulations of Trinidad and Tobago,” she acknowledged.