Defence Force Commodore Tellis Bethel has been directed to  conduct an immediate assessment of key government structures in the wake of the shooting death of Petty Officer  Phillip Perpall early Sunday morning  in the Guard House on the grounds of Government House. 

National Security Minister, Marvin Dames  told  reporters  just before the weekly Cabinet meeting, that to ensure that such a tragedy,  does not reoccur, a team has been put together to work on policies as it relates to security on government buildings. 

“In our planning,  we’ve been talking about taking a tiered approach, for example when you look at a place like Government House, for far too long the security focus has been relatively the same. 

“We’re living in a different world now; we see what is taking place around us on a daily basis. So, we have to ensure, that we bring our security measures up to address any kind of challenges that we anticipate. 

“In addition to that, what we’re also looking at  how we can bring technology to the fore, to work along with the human component,” Mr. Dames said. 

The minister has accepted that as it relates to security at government buildings, there’s room for improvement. However, he reiterated that changes and consultations have been in the pipeline long before Sunday’s tragedy.

“As a government, when we came into office, one of the things that we recognized, given the world that we’re living in today, and we see what is taking place all around us, security as it relates to government buildings in particular, in many of our securities  have not been robust enough. 

“And, so, one of the things that we recognize is that we have to change this. I’ve had a team working on a policy in relations to security at government buildings to ensure that we bring the requisite security that is needed to protect these buildings to the forefront,” Mr. Dames said. 

A 30-year veteran on the Defence Force, Petty Officer Perpall was killed when another officer gained access to Government House, Guard House around 2:30am Sunday and opened fire, wounding Perpall multiple times. 

He died on the scene.