A man recently released without charge after being detained under a ministerial order during the state of emergency has been fatally shot by police in Moruga on the morning of April 25.

Shumba James, of St Mary's Village in Moruga, died at the scene along Moruga Main Road – about two streets away from his home.

The SoE started in December and ended on April 13.

James was also the main eyewitness in the 2011 police shooting deaths of Abigail Johnson, 23; Alana Duncan, 28; and Kerron “Fingers” Eccles, 26, on the night of July 22, 2011, on Rochard Douglas Road.

Seven police officers were initially charged in connection with the murders, which sparked massive protests in the community that lasted for days.

At the end of the trial in November 2023, six officers were found not guilty. The seventh officer turned state witness and refused to testify at the trial.

On April 22, 2024, James' brother, Oba Gill, 31, of Simon Trace, and his friend Brandon Seenath, 34, of Douglas Trace, both of St Mary’s Village in Moruga, were shot dead at around 5.30 pm on April 22.

In May 2005, Oba’s brother Lester James, 27, was killed in a police-involved shooting.

Two years later, in 2007, another brother, Italo James, 25, was shot and killed.

His father was also charged with killing another of his sons.

Police claim James was linked to several crimes in the community.

Relatives, including James himself before his death, have denied the allegations.

In a separate incident, in Central Trinidad, police shot and killed a man whom they claimed tried to evade a roadblock in Longdenville shortly after midnight on April 24

This is a developing story.

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