One (1) woman was shot dead while five (5) other persons were injured following a mass shooting in Arima on Monday 17th April, 2023.
• The deceased was identified as 41-year-old Candace Griffith of Nelson Street in Arima, while the injured victims are 41-year-old Alana Layne, 38-year-old Chad Eastman, Nicholas Sylvester and two (2) teenagers identified as 15-year-old Lilly Layne and 16-year-old De Deon Layne.
• Around 10:30pm, the group of people was liming at a birthday party at a home along Temple Street in Arima when three (3) masked men scaled a wall to the premises.
• The men reportedly pulled out their firearms and fired several shots at the group who attempted to escape the hail of bullets.
• The gunmen then fled the scene on foot and the six (6) victims were discovered lying on the ground suffering from gunshot injuries.
• A report was subsequently made to the Arima police and emergency health services, and the victims were taken to the Arima District Hospital.
• Griffith was declared dead at the hospital while Alana is in critical condition after she suffered a headshot injury.
• Lilly was treated for a gunshot wound to the left leg; De Leon for a wound in the right big toe; Eastman for a wound to the right arm and Subero for a wound in the waist.
• A team of officers from the Arima police station, the Northern Division Task Force, and the Homicide Bureau led by Snr. Supt. Francis, Insp. Jugmohan, along with W/Cpl. Thompson, PC Marash, PC Maharaj, and WPC Jacob were among the officers at the scene.
• Officers of the Special Evidentiary Recovery Unit processed the scene and recovered 18 9mm spent shells, 5 spent 7.62 spent shell casings; 2 projectiles, and 7 metal fragments.
• One of the rounds bore the markings of ‘TTR’.
The Griffith family is no stranger to gun violence as Candace’s brother 34-year-old Kevin Griffith was shot and killed in Subero Street, Malabar Arima on February 21st, 2017.
