The Tribune

A LOCAL businessman hit out at the “war zone” that has been allowed to develop around the Shirley Street/Kemp Road junction after a projectile smashed into his car, narrowly missing his head.

Police have announced they are looking for a man accused of hurling bricks at passing cars in that area over the weekend, but John Bethel was convinced that in his case the object was a bullet.

Whatever it was, Mr Bethel said, it struck with tremendous force – leaving a deep dent in the door frame. He believes he is lucky to be alive.

“I was three inches from being killed – it struck right beside my head. A hundredth of a second difference, and it would have hit me in the temple,” he said.

Mr Bethel said several violent incidents have been reported in the area over the last few years, but the police don’t seem to have taken any action.

He also criticised the Emergency Services system after he was unable to contact police in the aftermath, despite several attempts.

The incident occurred just after 5 o’clock Friday morning when Mr Bethel was on his way to the airport with another local businessman, Mr William Saunders.

“We drove on to Shirley Street and headed past Harbour Bay Shopping Centre,” he explained.

“I was telling the story of how my son, Thomas Bethel, had been shot at opposite the Kemp Road intersection last summer in 2012.

“All of a sudden the entire car shook as a terrible bang filled the air. I accelerated quickly as Bill Saunders turned to me and said ‘John, what happened?”

“Bill, someone shot the car with a bullet, are you OK?” I replied.

“Bill responded ‘yes’, and we continued to the airport to catch our flight. As I continued driving, I could only wonder what would have happened to Bill if I had been shot and crashed the car. Would they have shot him dead?

“At the airport, it was difficult opening my door as the steel frame between the windows of the driver’s side of the car had been collapsed.”

“I called 911 four times over the next 60 minutes before the flight. My phone conversations went like this: ‘I’m calling to report a shooting’. All four times I called, the five second response was, ‘Shooting?’ and then they hung up.”

Mr Bethel said he personally knows six people who have been robbed, shot at, or assaulted around the Kemp Road, St James Road section of Shirley Street in the past six months.

“The unfortunate reality is, there have probably been many, many more.

“Are there any police patrolling this area?” he asked.

Last year, Tribune senior reporter Chester Robards had to run for his life after he was attacked by two thugs at a Kemp Road traffic light not far from where Mr Bethel’s ordeal took place.

He was struck several times in the face before the robbers ordered him out of his car and used it to chase him down as he ran for help.

Mr Robards said he had just stopped at the intersection of Kemp Road and Park Gate Road when he was attacked.

Asking if criminals have taken over the island, Mr Bethel said: “My neighbours no longer go out at night. The week before, my next door neighbour’s front door was smashed in by a huge rock at 11:15 am. The house was ransacked in broad daylight.

“Every one of my neighbours’ houses has been burglarised, cars broken into and some of them held at gunpoint for hours – and we live in what is considered a safe neighbourhood in Nassau.

“The criminals have no fear,” Mr Bethel said. “They know they can shoot, mug and create all the havoc in Nassau with very little consequence. How many more Bahamian citizens must die?”

The victim recalled that his only brother, James Bethel, was murdered in broad daylight in front of many witnesses, but no one was ever brought to justice.

“It is only a matter of time before the criminals start shooting the tourists and our country will turn into a nightmare of poverty and despair.

“We know the politicians have armed guards and are carrying guns to protect themselves. They know that we live in a war zone.

“May the Lord protect us because I feel we are losing the battle and will eventually lose the war against crime. What do we need to say or do to wake up the people responsible for the safety of the Bahamas?” he asked.