For the last several months there has been a seemingly unbreakable crime wave in New Providence. Almost every other day Police were called to scenes of homicides were screaming relatives lament while morticians take bodies to the morgue of The Princess Margaret Hospital.
Sociologists, Psychologists and Clergymen all agree that crime is, at bottom, a moral failing, both of individuals and of the society, and consequently, the ultimate solutions lie in programs of what used to be described in a less cynical age as “moral re-armament.”
Some months ago, the Bahamas Christian Council held a huge prayer service in the city of Nassau with the hope that the persistent number of murders would end. They did not.
A group of clergymen recently received permission from the Cabinet Office to have 40 Days of Prayer in Rawson Square in the hope that a spiritual intervention would somehow bring an end to the mayhem.
It is however widely believed that many who have fallen victim in the crime wave were known to police, as some of those murdered were wearing angle bracelets and were supposed to be monitored by the authorities.
It is unsettling for many Bahamians but the homicide count continues to climb after a 43-year-old man was shot and killed while working in a remote area off Carmichael Road on Wednesday.
The killing follows the fatal shooting of a 20 year old man who was attending a party at the residence of a family member in Bozine Town on Sunday, August 25th around 1:00am and brought the number of homicides in the country so far this year to 84. At this pace, the final count could surpass the 2023 total count of 110 murders.
Still early into their investigation at the time police provided members of the media with some of the details.
Superintendent Deno Josey, Commander of the Western Division, said police received reports around 12:30pm on Wednesday of gunshots being discharged at a scrap metal yard near Carmichael Road, just north of Ramsey Street and responding units, on arrival, met an unresponsive adult male lying on a dirt road suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.
The officers immediately requested emergency medical services technicians who examined the victim and found that he sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body and showed no signs of life. His Majesty’s Coroner, who also attended the scene, officially pronounced the man dead.
Superintendent Josey said, “preliminary reports revealed the deceased was last seen engaged in conversation with the occupants of a white hatchback vehicle, who approached him, demanded cash, and subsequently shot him multiple times after they were unable to get any funds. The culprits fled the immediate area, making good on their escape.”
Josey said that investigators believe they have some good leads and expect to make an arrest in the matter very soon.
On Thursday morning police reported that two men were hospitalized and in critical condition following a shooting incident that occurred on Young Street between Market and East Streets on Wednesday night.
Reports are that police were alerted to reports of gunshots being discharged on Young Street around 11:30 p.m. and promptly responded.
Upon their arrival, they found a 29-year-old male lying in the street suffering from apparent gunshot injuries to his upper body and requested emergency medical services, who subsequently transported the victim to the hospital.
While at the hospital, officers discovered another victim, a 27-year-old male, who had sustained gunshot wounds to his upper body and right extremities. He had been taken to the hospital in a private vehicle prior to the arrival of the police.
According to preliminary reports, both victims were standing on Young Street when two unknown males, one of whom was armed with a firearm, approached them and fired multiple gunshots in their direction, resulting in them being shot. The culprits fled the area on foot, making good on their escape.
The following is a list of the latest murders over the past few weeks that brings the murder count for the year 2024 to 84.
• #75 On July 30th a woman’s body was found dead on Homestead Avenue, off Lincoln Blvd.
• #76 Oral Roberts who was involved in armoured truck robbery, was shot and killed in Fox Hill.
• #77 and #78 both occurred on August 6th when two men were shot outside of a club in Grand Bahama. One male died on scene and the other was transported to hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
• #79 A man was found shot to death in the area of the South Beach pool on August 10th.
• #80 On August 15th man was shot and killed on the island of Bimini.
• #81 36-year-old Phillip Adderley was found stabbed to death with his hands and feet bounded, at a Stuarts Cove site on August 16th.
• #82 Also on August 16th, a 23-year-old male was shot on Hospital Lane, and later died in hospital,
• #83 A 20-year-old was shot to death around 1:00 a.m. in Bozine Town on August 25th at a relative’s house party.
• #84 On August 28th, a male believed to be in his early 40’s was found shot dead through a dirt road opposite Ramsey Street off Carmichael Road.
Of the 110 homicides in 2023, 65 percent were solved. Seventy-five of those suspects were on bail when they committed another serious crime including murder or were murdered themselves.
