Assistant Commissioner of Police Stephen Dean said he is concerned about the fear perpetuated via social media.

Mr. Dean on Friday said “some people seem to make a career from creating panic through social media”.

These sentiments came after a video and voice notes of a stabbing incident involving three male students of Government High School made its rounds last week Thursday.

Immediately after that incident, reports of a similar incident at the R.M. Bailey Senior High School and news of shootings in the Kemp Road and Andros Avenue communities also made rounds; but those incidents according to police, never actually took place.

ACP Dean said this type of behavior by Bahamians needs to stop.

“They just send those things out there not knowing the harm or the fear they are causing upon communities. Yesterday a lot of parents were sent into frenzy. They wanted to collect their children,” he said.

“Some of the reports going around on social media were not right. They were not really going on. They were not true,” he added.

Considering this is a frequent and occurrence, ASP Dean urged residents to be considerate of others, mindful of the impact it may have on individuals and communities before partaking in spreading false information.

“Be considerate when you’re using social media. When you are talking about seriousness, and perpetrating murders, shootings and stabbings, and these things don’t exist. It’s not about games and fun,” he said.

Meantime, ASP Dean is urging residents to rely on the police for such information.

“What we are saying to people is that since it seems to be the primary source of information, and going on a 24/7 basis is to trust the official source of information, the media houses,” he said.

“You can always verify with the police, particularly any information pertaining to crime and other incidents. You should try to verify with the police first, to find out if it is so. Let’s try get back to the spirit of honesty,” he said.