Man who fled Syria to escape violence fatally shot in Tobago
(Trinidad Guardian) The relatives of Tobago gyro vendor Elias Dabbourah, 30, are demanding justice following his death on Saturday.
Dabbourah was shot in the head with a handgun around 3.30 am on Monday when bandits attempted to rob him at Crown Point, Tobago. He was rushed to the Scarborough General Hospital where he remained in a comatose state and was breathing with the help of a respirator. Family members flew in a doctor from Trinidad on Friday night who later declared Elias brain dead.
An emotional Dany Layoun, 31, spokesman for the family, said all they wanted was justice. Layoun said the perpetrators must pay for their dastardly act.
Nadine Hackett of the Police Corporate Communications Unit said people have been detained in connection with the murder but no charges have yet been laid.
Layoun said the week had been tragic for family members. He said Dabbourah’s wife, Sally Hourani, 25, remains traumatised. He said Sally had been at the bedside of her husband since he was shot. He said when Elias passed away around 11.40 am, she became hysterical.
Layoun said Elias’s parents who live in Homs, Syria, had been desperately trying to travel to Trinidad to see their son before the worst happened. The elderly couple made their way from Syria to Lebanon last week where they got a visa for T&T from the T&T Honorary Consulate in Tripoli, Lebanon, headed by Honourary Consul Jean Georges Haidar. However, they remain in Beruit where they are awaiting connecting flights. Layoun said they may arrive on Friday in T&T. Layoun said family members, including Tony, the brother of the deceased, were still deliberating how to break the tragic news to his parents.