Police are fighting hard to keep up with the recent spate of murders and crime in the country and are once again calling on the public to assist with solving these crimes that now happen nearly daily.

Recently, the bloody killings claimed the lives of eight people in nearly as many days.

The script is now becoming monotonous and predictable: gunshots are fired, a man, or more, is left dead, police arrive to process the scene and another murder is recorded.

But just as police officials begin the paperwork on one murder, oftentimes calls are ring in about a possible second and third.

Two more murder cases were opened between Monday night and Tuesday morning.

In the latest incident, police made a gruesome find made after the remains of what is believed to be a male body was found burnt beyond recognition on Tuesday in bushes at the rear of Refuge Tabernacle in Hollywood Subdivision, Cowpen Road.

According to Officer in Charge of the Central Detective Unit Superintendent Paul Rolle, the body was on the scene for about 12 hours.

He added that an individual working in the area made the discovery and contacted police.

“Officers responded to the scene where they found a body wrapped in a sheet and burnt,” he said.

“We are not certain as to how this individual came by his death but the body itself is badly burnt. Anybody who may have a male relative missing, we’re asking them to come forward, obviously with the level of the burning, we may have to proceed by DNA to try and determine an identification of this individual, we are treating it as a homicide at this time.”

Residents of Refuge Court which is off Cowpen Road watched in shock as the bagged body was wheeled on a gurney onto a waiting hearse from Clarke’s Funeral Home.

Sherene Dean who has been a resident of the area for six months said that she tries to stay locked indoors as much as possible due to the high levels of crime in the country.

“Well I was in my room when my neighbour came and she said, ‘You laying up here and a dead person behind our church,’ so I said ‘What?’ I was amazed to see that it was right at my door,” she said.

“But I’m not surprised at what’s going on in The Bahamas these days because we have a lot of killings, this area is not really frequented a lot, it’s a very quiet area so this is where they go to dispose of these bodies when they kill them. We could have more lighting in the area, you got to be careful and you can’t be outdoors at a certain time because you don’t know what could happen.”

Another resident, 24-year-old Anton Rolle shared the same sentiments.

“My concern is the lighting in the area because it’s really poor, it’s a lot of trafficking up and down in this area,” he said.

“It’s only so much one civilian could do for the area, sometimes I’ll call into a police station to tell them that I see something suspicious and I’ll be waiting to see if a unit would come but they never do. It’s really disturbing because it’s so close to home,” he said.

Church administrator Sivlean Rolle-Johnson Rolle said she was left shaken up following the news of a dead body being found in the area.

“I’m shock, I’m a bit nervous and lost for words, if one can go to the extent of killing a human being and taking him or her on a property or grounds that is supposed to be holy ground, what so you think that person wouldn’t do?” she said.

“We are definitely living in troublesome times.”

South Beach MP Cleola Hamilton who was also on the scene lamented about the country’s unabated crime wave.

“For the past few days we were having a murder almost a day and I’m appealing to our young men and women that to find resolution you don’t have to kill one another,” she said.

“It appears as if there is a surge going on, like a spirit is lose and we know that police are doing their best and we know there are good citizens who doing their best. This is very unfortunate.”

She added that the issue of poor lighting in the area will be addressed quickly.

In other news:

On Monday night a 17-year-old male was shot to the head outside an apartment complex on Constitution Drive in the Chippingham area.

According to Supt. Rolle, the young man was among a group of males playing dominoes when the incident occurred.

“Officers responded to the scene where they discovered a male suffering from gunshot wounds to the head, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel responded to the scene and pronounced the male lifeless,” he said.

“A lone male emerged from the rear of the building wearing a black hooded jacket and tan mask over his face, produced a hand gun, walked up to the victim and shot him. It appears as though the victim was known to the assailant and vice versa. “

The gunmen reportedly fled on foot in the direction of Eden Street.

Police are appealing to the public to provide any information they may have in relation to the incident.