By Prior Beharry
THE teenaged daughter of Deputy Commissioner of Prisons Sherwin Bruce was also in the vehicle that was shot up by bandits in Barataria on Wednesday morning.
This was revealed by Senior Superintendent of the North Eastern Division Mervyn Edwards at a press conference at the Police Administration building in Port of Spain on Wednesday.
She was not shot but took cover in the backseat of the Toyota Fortuna.
Bruce’s driver Steve Phitt, 49,was shot twice in the arm during incident. Bruce also opened fire at the criminals who came in two vehicles at his home just after 7 am on Wednesday.
Acting Prisons Commissioner Deopersad Ramoutar confirmed that Bruce “successfully defended himself by returning fire.” He said that Phitt sustained two gunshot wounds to the chest contrary to police reports that stated he was shot in the arm.
Police have held one man for the incident after he sort treatment.
On Monday, the Prison Officers’ Association wrote to Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds about the installation of jammers at the nation’s Maximum Security Prison (MSP).
While the association said it was grateful for moves to improve security by installing jammers, it expressed concern that a landline system that could be monitored was promised decades ago.
The letter stated, ““These phone systems for inmates to communicate with their families and attorneys were promised over 20 years ago.
“However, we do not know who got the contract and why they were paid without delivering what was promised. We request an investigation into expenditure within the Ministry of National Security, and specifically the Prison Service, as significant contracts are given without proper monitoring and evaluation,”
Police said that the bodyguard and driver Phitt went to pick up Bruce just after 7 am at Sparrow Drive when three armed men jumped out of a gold Nissan Almera car and started to fire at the vehicle, a Toyota Fortuna.
At the press conference, Edwards said the incident was part of the gang violence plaguing the country.
Ramoutar described the assassination attempt on Bruce as a cowardly and unfortunate incident.
He said. ” “I am very disappointed given the inroads that my Executive and I have made in reducing tensions between officers and inmates over the past one and a half years.
“The majority of our inmates, and ex inmates, will detest that cowardly act of attempting to harm any officer.
“I call upon ex inmates and inmates who have embraced the wave in which the Prison Service is heading, to provide any information to law enforcement officers, or to even do a citizen’s arrest and bring these persons in restraints in front of the Port of Spain Prison gate for the rule of law to take its course. This will send a strong message to those criminal elements whom I described as cancerous cells.”
On Wednesday Police Commissioner described praised an operation in which she said the large cache of illegal guns in T&T was seized by police.
