Page 55 - KPA 27 JULY 2015
P. 55
Trinidad on ‘high alert’ after
prison escape and deadly shootout
TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Prime Minister is calling
for calm in the wake of a deadly prison escape and
nationwide manhunt.
One police officer was killed and a prison escapee
gunned down in Friday’s brazen jailbreak in the capital
city of Port of Spain. Two other prison escapees are on
the loose and considered armed and dangerous.
“Your government is in full
control and is taking all
appropriate steps,”
Escaped prisoners Hassan Atwell (left) and Christopher Selby. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said in a state-
ment Saturday.
CCTV footage shows inside the Port of Spain Prison. From left, The government has placed airports and seaports on
prisoners Allan “Scanny” Martin, Hassan Atwell and Christopher Selby are about “high alert,” and apparently detained some people
to open the door to escape on Friday. A visitor, bottom right, lies on the ground. for questioning after what the Prime Minister called
“surgical strikes based on intelligence.”
10 INTERNATIONAL
Three men broke out of the Port of Spain Prison on
Friday afternoon. The escape involved a shootout
with police that left one prison guard dead. Constable
Sherman Maynard, 27, died from gunshot wounds in
the attack.
The Trinidad Express reports that the men were armed
with handguns when they escaped and apparently
threw a hand grenade onto the roadway. Police re-
moved the unexploded device after the escape.
Just how the prisoners got the weapons remains
unclear. The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian reports
that Deputy Police Commissioner Glen Hackett could
not “confirm or disconfirm reports that the prisoners
were allegedly given the arms during a ‘special visit’
session.”
A short time after the jail break, police say they shot
and killed one of the inmates, Allan “Scanny” Martin,
on the grounds of Port of Spain’s General Hospital. He
had been in jail for charges in the 2006 murder of a
local businesswoman.
Escaped prisoners Hassan Atwell (left) and Christo-
pher Selby.
The two other escapees have been identified as Chris-
topher “Monster” Selby, 30, and Hassan Atwell, 41.
Trinidad Police say Atwell was in jail awaiting extra-
dition to the United States for charges involving an
alleged “hostage taking.” Selby was imprisoned on
murder charges.
Monday, July 27 2015 - ARUBA TRAVELLER
