PORT OF SPAIN--The hunt for two of the prisoners who broke out of prison last Friday ended Sunday, with one murdered by gangsters and the other surrendering to police.
The bullet-riddled body of Hassan Atwell was found in the early hours of Sunday morning on the compound of the Servol Sunshine Hill Life Centre in Port of Spain. Then at around 5:30pm, Christopher Selby walked into the Barataria Police Station, accompanied by his attorney, and gave himself up.
Police said they were treating Atwell's death as a murder, after initial reports indicated he met his end at the hands of warring gangsters.
"I am glad they got him," National Security Minister Carl Alfonso told reporters after Atwell's body was discovered. "The law enforcement agencies would have found him anyway, at some stage. It just happened that he happened to be probably in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was killed."
Atwell and Selby were among three prisoners who shot their way out of the Port of Spain Prison shortly after midday on Friday, July 24, killing a police officer in the process. The third man was Allan Martin, who was killed in a shootout with lawmen shortly after the jailbreak.
Footage from the close-circuit television (CCTV) inside and outside the prison surfaced over the weekend, showing the trio – two of them with guns – getting out of the prison. Martin, carrying a bag on his back, was the first to be seen on camera, pointing his gun at prison officers, before Selby appears. The gun-toting Atwell then comes into view, eventually opening the prison gate with Selby's help as Martin stands watch. The three then run out, exchanging gunfire with police officer who were on patrol outside the jail before fleeing. Constable Sherman Maynard was hit and died later while undergoing surgery.
Although it was not captured on CCTV, the men then escaped in a Nissan Navara which they crashed near the Port of Spain Hospital. They ran onto the hospital where another shootout occurred and Martin was killed as he sought cover in a security booth.
Police found a pump-action shotgun and a nine-millimetre handgun in Martin's bag. Martin was one of 12 men on trial for the 2006 murder of businesswoman Vindra Nailapul Coolman.
Atwell was accused of several charges including kidnapping, firearm possession, robbery and sexual assault, and was also facing extradition to the United States to face charges of conspiracy to engage in hostage taking, hostage taking, and aiding and abetting the taking of a hostage.
Selby is charged with two murders. He is expected to face additional charges stemming from the jailbreak and shootouts.
