A woman was shot in the head and killed while sitting in a car with a man who was also wounded, but who managed to drive to the St Margaret’s Police Station, where he abandoned the vehicle.

Police found the woman dead in the front passenger seat of the blood-splattered car. She was identified last night as Ornella Nanton, 19, of Spring Village, Claxton Bay.

The injured man was taken by paramedics to the San Fernando General Hospital. He told police he knew the woman only by her first name.

Police suspect it was a crime of passion and believe the woman was shot by someone she knew.

A joint army/police unit was searching parts of Claxton Bay last night.

The shooting occurred at St John’s Trace, Claxton Bay, not far from the St Margaret’s Police Station. Police said shortly before 6 p.m., the man rushed into the charge room to tell of the attack.

He said they were driving along the Southern Main Road in Marabella, when the woman asked him to stop to speak to someone she saw on the roadside. The man claimed he heard explosions and sped off, only to realise then that Nanton was shot.

He abandoned his car, a silver grey Nissan Almera, just inside the gates to the police station.

The incident was reminiscent of one two months ago, in which 39-year-old Camille Daniel drove onto the compound of the West End Police Station Diego Martin, after three thieves got into her car.

However, she was shot in the head and killed by her attackers, who were still in the vehicle, as she entered the station’s compound. Two men have since been charged with her murder.

ASP Cecil Santana is spearheading investigations.