By Sue-Ann Wayow

ESCAPED prisoner Abraham Briggs was shot and killed by police on Wednesday.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) reported that around 11.25 am officers attached to the Eastern Division’s Emergency Response Patrol (ERP) Sangre Grande were conducting routine patrols along Jawarsingh Drive, Guaico Road, Sangre Grande, when they observed a man walking eastward who, upon seeing the marked police vehicle, fled into nearby bushy terrain.

 The officers chased after him and eventually encountered the individual in a swampy area near a river.

During the encounter, the man reportedly pointed what appeared to be a firearm in the direction of the officers.

Fearing for his life and the lives of others, one of the officers discharged his firearm in the direction of the threat, and the assailant fell into the swamp, the TTPS stated in a media release on Wednesday evening.

 The suspect was injured and immediately attended to by officers at the scene.

He was identified Briggs, who had fled custody less than 24 hours prior, while assigned to work detail at the Youth Training Rehabilitation Centre in Arouca.

Briggs was serving a six-year sentence for Robbery with Aggravation.

Police said he was transported to the Sangre Grande Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. A search is currently being conducted in the swampy area where the incident occurred to recover the firearm.

Briggs is the third person to be shot and killed by police officers since the State of Emergency was declared last Friday.

Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro had warned criminals that when confronted by police, they should surrender peacefully or it would not end well for them.