Police in Trinidad detain six people as probe continues into fatal attack on police station

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) on Monday said it had detained six people as investigations continue into Sunday’s incident at the San Fernando City Corporation Municipal Police Station that left an officer dead and guns and ammunition stolen.

Acting Corporal Anusha Eversley was killed during what the authorities have declared a “security breach,” with more than 60 weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition stolen.

In a statement, the TTPS said those detained include two municipal police officers.

“Officers of the San Fernando Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Special Branch, and Special Investigations Unit, supported by intelligence-led operations and the strategic use of technology, worked throughout the night as they carried out several simultaneous operations and have made a significant breakthrough in the matter. As a result, a substantial quantity of the stolen firearms and ammunition has been recovered,” the TTPS said in the statement.

It said that 10 M&P pistols, 10 Glock 19 pistols, a Browning pistol, a Smith & Wesson pistol, and 612 rounds of 9mm ammunition had been recovered.

The statement said Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro led officers on the ground in the early hours of Monday morning “as the investigation progressed and took a critical turn.”

Investigations remain ongoing and are at a sensitive stage.

“The TTPS assures the public that all efforts are being made to bring those responsible to justice,” the police said, adding that further updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

On Sunday night, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said that the attack on the municipal police station “was not an external attack on the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) or the national state security services.”

She said it was “an internal betrayal perpetrated against the Trinidad and Tobago Municipal Police Service (TTMPS) attached to the San Fernando City Corporation.”

“It should be noted that the TTPS is a distinct entity from the TTMPS. TTPS officers were not involved in the incident. The Ministry of Homeland Security and the TTPS will provide full support to the TTMPS, San Fernando Mayor Robert Parris, and the San Fernando City Corporation to investigate and bring this matter to closure and recover the stolen items,” she said.

The developments come amid an ongoing State of Emergency (SOE), with the opposition questioning whether current measures are effectively addressing rising crime and security breaches.

But Persad-Bissessar said that “there is no need for any curfew.”