A 51-year-old employee at energy company Proman Trinidad was shot dead while driving along Rivulet Road, Couva, on Thursday afternoon.Ricardo Diaz, of Pinto Road, Arima, was a procurement manager at the compa­ny based in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.According to police reports, around 4.45 p.m., a motorist driving west along Rivulet Road noticed a black BYD Sealion 7 SUV stopped on the eastbound lane near National Energy, obstruc­ting traffic.The motorist approached the vehicle intending to assist the dri­ver, but found Diaz slumped over in the driver’s seat with gunshot wounds.Several spent shells were also observed on the road.Officers from the Couva Police Station were contacted.PC Boodoosingh and PC Ramute responded to the scene around 5.30 p.m. and found the vehicle with its win­dows down and Diaz inside.Diaz was officially pronounced dead at the scene.Crime scene investigators attached to the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region III processed the area and recovered several items of evidential value, including spent 9mm shell casings and a projectile.Police said Diaz had been employed at Proman for the past five years as a procurement manager at one of the company’s warehouses and had recently been promoted to head of the department about six months ago.Investigators were told that Diaz was last seen lea­ving the company’s compound around 4.30 p.m., minutes before his body was found.His vehicle was later removed to the Special Evi­dence Recovery Unit, Cu­muto, for further examination.Police have not established a motive for the killing but say they have gathered video evidence and are reviewing it.Proman Trinidad could not be reached immediately for comment yesterday.Diaz’s murder brings the murder toll for the year so far to 147.The toll on the same date last year was 159.For the month of May, there were 25 killings up to yesterday.Last year, 29 people were killed in May.