Armed thugs burst into a popular nightclub early Tuesday morning and opened fire on the crowd killing one man and shooting seven others in what police say is a feud between two rival criminal gangs.

The shootings happened at the Ballers Nightclub on East Bay and Mackey Streets at the foot of the Paradise Island bridge.

During a news conference yesterday Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade revealed that a 21-year-old man had died as a result of the incident; two men remained in critical condition and five others, including a female, were in stable position.

Following the shootings police arrested seven men between the ages of 17 and 42 from Nassau Village and later on, an additional 15 people, ages 17-54 from the Kemp Road area.

“Police operations are ongoing to arrest several others and these operations will continue into the night and until we get to the bottom of this matter,” Commissioner Greenslade said.

The commissioner said police want to question 34-year-old Julian Collie of Nassau Village and Stephen ‘Die’ Stubbs of Ridgeland Park west.

“This shooting, and other serious crimes, are receiving the full and focused attention of the police,” Mr. Greenslade said.

“We have re-launched Rapid Strike and the team of officers, led by a senior officer, has been asked to arrest prolific offenders that continue to commit crimes in our community, to seek out and arrest people for outstanding warrants of arrests, to seek people believed to be in possession of illegal weapons and drugs and certainly any other person who is known to be committing criminal offenses in our community.”

He continued, “Particular emphasis will also be placed on groups of men referred to as gangs and organised crime groups that continue to create problems.”

Senior law enforcement officials are growing increasing concerned about the late hours that some bars and nightclubs remain open. They feel such places pose a breeding ground for criminals.

“I will continue to make the appeal for citizens who own establishments to not keep their establishments open for a lengthy period of time even if they have licences,” the commissioner said.

“We are challenged and we need everyone to help us solve these problems. I’m going to be petitioning so that we can revisit the licences issues and I stand firmly on the point that despite how unpopular it might be, we cannot allow business establishments to remain open into the wee hours of the morning and attract the ilk of nefarious goons that seek to do criminal deeds while we are in our beds.”

The police chief also appealed for the public’s help.

“If you know of relatives and friends with drugs or guns ask them to remove them,” Mr. Greenslade said. “Please take my advice. Rapid Strike will be resolute in arresting people. We cannot solve crime if we cloak criminals.”

This latest slaying pushed the country’s murder count to 59 for the year.

The police commissioner said at this same point last year, the murder count stood at 54.