BY FRANCIS JOSEPH
One officer attached to the San Fernando Municipal Police Headquarters was arrested on Sunday as investigations into the murder of acting Corporal Anusha Eversley and the larceny of 62 guns and 4,000 rounds of ammunition, intensified into the night.
Hours after the discovery of Eversley’s body, police coordinated several raids across south Trinidad. One raid took the police to Claxton Bay where the suspected officer lives. Despite searches at that residence, nothing was found.
But investigators seized the officer’s vehicle which they believed was used in the theft of the guns and ammunition. Another private vehicle was also seized. Forensic testing is being done to those vehicles. Also seized was a van assigned to the San Fernando Municipal Police which investigators believe was used to escort the other vehicles in getting the guns and ammunition to safety.
That means apart from the suspect in custody, there are others who assisted in this breach of national security. The big questions are – (1) how come no one at the police station heard the bullet which killed Eversley, and (2) how did the suspect (s) escape with all those guns and ammunition undetected?
Police are also searching hot spot areas in south Trinidad where they believe the guns and ammunition are being hidden. “It is just a matter of time before we get them,” one senior officer told Sunshine Today.
According to police reports, Eversley was last seen alive around 11 p.m. on Saturday in the charge room area of the station, which is situated at King’s Wharf, Lady Hailes Avenue, San Fernando. She later retired to bed in the officers’ quarters.
Around 4:40 a.m. on Sunday, a male officer returned to the area and observed it in darkness. After switching on the lights, he noticed what appeared to be blood coming from the corporal quarters and that the Strong Room was open.
Further checks revealed that a quantity of firearms, including shotguns, pistols and a rifle, along with ammunition, were missing.
Missing were:
* 52 Glock pistols
* Six shotguns
* Four MPX-type firearms
* 4,000 rounds of 9 mm ammunition.
Police Officers responded to the scene and discovered Eversley lying motionless on a mattress inside the quarters. She was clothed in a bra and bleeding from the nostrils. She was shot in the head. She was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Commissioner of Police, Allister Guevarro and Assistant Commissioner Surendra Sagramsingh, head of the Municipal Police, hosted a media conference in San Fernando on Sunday afternoon. Also in attendance was Minister of Homeland Security, Roger Alexander.
Guevarro confirmed that a full-scale internal and criminal investigation was underway into the killing of Eversley, with all officers who were on duty at the Municipal Police Station at the time of the incident expected to be formally interviewed as investigators seek to establish exactly what transpired.
The Commissioner disclosed that Eversley sustained a gunshot wound to the neck. He also confirmed that a quantity of police-issued firearms and ammunition are currently missing following the incident, prompting an urgent recovery operation. He added that none of the missing weapons or ammunition belong to members of the public.
