A Toronto resident was assassinated as he sat in his car in Trinidad on Tuesday.

Dr Wesley Debideen, a prominent attorney, was eating ice cream as he drove through the Grand Bazaar Plaza in Valsayn, East Trinidad, when a car pulled suddenly in front of his, forcing him to stop, and a gunman got out and fired seven shots, killing him.

The shooting took place in broad daylight, and sent shoppers and employees at stores scampering, as the gunman cooly got into his car and drove out of the compound.

Debideen, who also had a Phd. in Chemistry, lived in Toronto, but traveled frequently to Trinidad to take on cases for clients there. One of his most prominent clients was the Hindu Credit Union (HCU), a financial company that is the subject of an inquiry after it collapsed.

Dr Debideen represented the HCU’s CEO, Harry Harrinarine, at the inquiry.

It is not known if the assassination is linked in any way to the HCU matter, as thousands of clients lost millions of dollars when the financial institution collapsed.

Trinidad police did not link the murder to the HCU, but are probing whether it was an attempted robbery, as Dr Debideen was at Grand Bazaar to conduct business at a nearby bank.

So far, police have determined that nothing was stolen during the incident.

Dr Debideen is the uncle of well-known former Toronto Carnival bandleader Marlon Singh, who expressed shock at his murder.

Singh said his uncle often traveled “back and forth” to Trinidad to represent clients, and was well-known in that country because of his legal work.

He said his family was confused over the reason for his murder.