AN EXCHANGE of gunfire between police and three men at Kelly Village, Caroni yesterday ended in the death of a 25-year-old Santa Cruz man and the arrest of another.

The dead man remained unidentified up to late yesterday.

Police said the unidentified man and the other man were linked to the stealing of a vehicle from St Joseph on Tuesday night.

Around 6.15 a.m. police responded to a report that the stolen Ford Ranger was found abandoned at Mary Allen Street, Kelly Village.

Officers went to the area to retrieve the vehicle when they were approached by three men in a Nissan Tiida.

Police attempted to question the suspects, but the Nissan Tiida sped off and attempted to elude police.

The suspects fired several gunshots at the police and the officers returned fire.

The 25-year-old suspect was shot, and another suspect, a 30-year-old man, was detained for questioning.

A third suspect is being sought by the police.

A resident who witnessed the incident, but spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: "I saw a white car and an unmarked black police vehicle chasing the car. The car was coming into the street. There were three bandits, one bandit was running. When they reached by the corner, the police came out and started to run behind the bandit. They let go a good few shots. Police started to chase the bandits and call for back up. The bandits abandoned the vehicle. One of them got shot".

Police said the deceased was linked to the stealing of a vehicle from the Arouca Police Station several months before.

They said he was linked to several other addresses at Belmont, Arima, and Valsayn.

A party of police officers headed by Superintendent Johnny Abraham and others of the Central Division police visited the scene and are continuing investigations.

In an unrelated incident, police have identified a Toco man who they shot and killed at Guapo on Monday as Akeel Moreno. The man was identified by a female relative on Tuesday, police said.

They were told that he previously lived at Toco, but recently went to live at Warden Road, Point Fortin.

Police said they fired upon Moreno after he advanced towards them with a knife.

Around 2 a.m. police officers were responding to a report by a resident of Park and Southern Main Road that an intruder was inside his hardware.

Upon arrival Moreno was seen by police emerging through a hole on the southern side of the building with a knife in his right hand.

An officer called out to Moreno to stop, but he advanced and the police man fired several shots at him.

He was taken to the Point Fortin Area Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.