Kindergarten to be moved after deadly shootings

Roxann’s Learning and Children’s Center remains closed for the time being following a fatal shooting outside the premises earlier this week. However, owner Roxann King says she is looking for alternative locations for a temporary move.

Announcing this yesterday during a meeting with Laventille East/Morvant MP Adrian Leonce at the preschool, King said that while they hoped to reopen on Monday, this simply would not be possible.

The school, located on Basement Road, Malick, Barataria, and catering for children between one and five years old, was forced to close on Wednesday after gunmen killed two cousins ​​outside its doors on Wednesday.

The incident took place at 8:10 am and left Gerard and Kemo Calliste dead; while a 48-year-old woman and her four-year-old Godson, and a 22-year-old man were injured. The injured were in stable condition in hospital yesterday.

Visiting the kindergarten to provide assistance and comfort the traumatized staff, Leonce, the Minister of Housing, endorsed the positive contributions the school had made in the Morvant and Barataria areas.

Leonce said: “We are also organizing a temporary move while the trauma continues. We have already contacted two places and are waiting for feedback.”

Leonce offered moral support as he urged teachers to remain strong and determined in their focus. Just as the T&T Police Service (TTPS) provided guidance to affected staff, students and parents, the ministry had discussed additional guidance after the first session.

Leonce declared the school safe, saying it “should be a space that everyone feels comfortable in. It is a space that respects everyone and it is a space of positivity within the community.”

Leonce agreed that an increased presence of mobile and foot patrols would be a comfort to residents and deter those seeking to commit criminal acts.

He rejected claims that warring gangs were responsible for causing communities to withdraw into themselves – and condemned the actions of a few, who he said would not be torn apart.

He said the nursery school was a shining light in the community and had contributed to the development of individuals who were now lawyers, teachers and police officers among other professions.

“We reject gang wars. We reject anyone who encourages gang wars and we want the TTPS to engage in gang wars,” he added.

Leonce assured King that once an alternative location is found for the preschool move, they will ensure the move is smooth and seamless for staff and students.

An emotional King welcomed reporters into the cheerful and bright space they created for their young attackers behind the steel door pierced by two bullets on Wednesday: “It is traumatizing. I’m here today by the grace of God because yes, it happened. It could have been worse, but God has been good. His blood covered us as a school and those on the grounds, so first and foremost, thank God for protecting us through this ordeal.”

In an attempt to clear up the misinformation that the shooting took place on the grounds of her school, King explained: ‘The shooting started outside the school, but the gate was now closed by a parent who was leaving. It was easy for one of the deceased boys to push he came in and he ran inside.

She added: “No one died at school. It just happened in front of the school.”

King says: “It’s a difficult time, but we have the support.”

After discussions with King, Leonce said, “We would need some additional police presence and we would even like to see some could be stationed close by in both this Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue area.”

King said this wasn’t the end for her school and promised they would come out stronger and better.

When asked about her students, she said that they were all doing better and that they were eager to resume classes.

Personally, she revealed, “I’m grieving right now. Even though I see them on video calls, because we have children who come all the way from Arima and Diego Martin, …seeing them on video and hearing them ask ‘Auntie, when we come to school’…it hurts.”

Fighting back tears, King looked around despondently at the empty tables and chairs as she revealed that Ministry of Education officials will visit next Wednesday. “We get the support,” she says.

King said even though they were a private entity, the institution was the heart of the community.

Speaking about the move, she said: “Psychologically, we have to guide the children, especially those who were on the premises and the parents, and until we get their mentality back in a comfortable space, that is the best option.”

Officials from TTPS’s Victim and Witness Support Unit, TTPS, arrived at 11 a.m. to begin staffing.

Guardian Media has learned that Angostura has since offered a safe place for counseling to begin. These sessions are expected to begin on Monday. King said there is an urgent need to ensure that the children who were there at the time of the shooting receive counseling.

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