A 48-year-old businessman was shot dead by a lone gunman yesterday at his bar at the corner of La Horquette Branch Road and Fitzallen Street in Point Cumana. Vincent “Ranger” Greig, the father of five, died on the spot while his brother Raphael pretended to be dead to escape from the gunman in the front yard of his bar, The Farm Plattin, around 10 am. In an interview at the crime scene yesterday, eyewitnesses said the gunman parked a white panel van outside the bar across the street and waited for Greig.
The gunman entered the premises and opened fire on the duo. After being shot three times in the legs, Raphael dropped to the ground and played dead. The gunman then left in the getaway van. Eyewitnesses said it was the second time Greig had been shot at and his brother had to play dead. One said Greig had never left the gate open after the first attempt on his life. “That gate never stay open. He went out and came back and the gunman went in and shoot them,” he said.
A woman at the scene said Greig was sitting across the street when he was shot by a gunman last year. “He got away that time. He was sitting there when a man just came out from nowhere and shot him. “He was a good man from the area and he would be missed by all. Anybody needed anything, he would give them a barbecue. “They need to put down the gun, it is time. Is more children without a father,” she said.
A friend of the family said they did not know if Greig had been threatened. “He was not that kind of man. If he had a problem with somebody he would not say. He would not want anybody to be afraid. He would keep that to himself,” she said. The police are hunting for his killer. Officers of the Western Division Task Force, Crime Scene Unit and Homicide Bureau visited the scene. Detectives said Greig had “a colourful past” and had been involved in narcotics years ago.
Police are also investigating the death of a man at Straker Village, Laventille. A report said around 1.15 pm, Maxwell Yearwood, was standing outside the community centre when two gunmen approached and shot him. He died on the spot. Homicide officers are investigating.