The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

MOMENTS after gunshots rang out in the Elizabeth Estates subdivision on Friday night, the mother of the country’s 132nd murder victim sent him a voice message saying: “Please come home, I hear gunshots in the area.”

According to the victim’s older sister, Shavan Ferguson, by this time he was already dead, shot multiple times in his body as he sat inside a vehicle. He was attending the wake of a neighbour at the time.

While police have not officially released the victim’s identity, Mrs Ferguson confirmed that the deceased is her youngest brother, 21-year-old Adrian “Fish” Munroe. He was the father of a two-month-old baby girl.

Munroe was one of two men shot in New Providence over the weekend. A third man was stabbed to death in Grand Bahama.

The killings pushed the country’s homicide count to a record 133 for the year.

According to police, shortly before midnight on Friday, Munroe was sitting in a vehicle at Ghana Circle in Elizabeth Estates, when four men approached and shot him before fleeing on foot.

Sources close to the matter have informed this newspaper that a woman and a man were being held by police in connection with the case.

Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander said: “We have a good idea as to what is happening and we have some leads but they have to be developed. So we are making an appeal for people to come forward with any information they might have.”

Authorities said Munroe died at the scene, however Mrs Ferguson said a short while after the shooting, her oldest brother attempted to take the victim to the hospital but was intercepted by an emergency medical services (EMS) unit in Fox Hill. She said they declared him dead there.

Mrs Ferguson, who described her brother as mannerly and extremely happy to be a father, told The Tribune yesterday that many questions linger over Munroe’s death.

“It was just so random,” she said, “there wasn’t any altercation, no argument or anything.

“We are his family and we don’t know all aspects of his life. I am not saying that he was perfect, but we still have many unanswered questions.

“We don’t think it wasn’t a retaliation because Adrian did his own thing but it was never maliciously. He had literally just gone outside to that wake when he was shot. We believe it had to have been for someone else. That car had to have been already en route.

“It’s just so weird that it was my mother who called the police and reported that she heard the gunshots.

“She then called my oldest brother and said you know it’s time now to come home because of the shots and then she left Adrian a voice message as well telling him to please come inside.”

Mrs Ferguson was outraged that the government has been unable to get a grip on crime.

“We are talking about 133 families now that have been affected, families that have all gone through the same thing. Something has to be done because this is crazy,” she said.

In Grand Bahama, authorities said they are continuing investigations into a fatal stabbing that claimed the life of a resident of Eight Mile Rock.

Assistant Superintendant Alvardo Dames reported that some time around 7.22pm on Friday, two men were arguing at Andros Town, Eight Mile Rock, when one pulled out an object and stabbed the other.

The victim was taken by EMS personnel to the Rand Memorial Hospital, where he later died.

Another shooting death happened in the Pinewood Gardens subdivision in New Providence on Saturday.

Police said yesterday that they were searching for two men for questioning in connection with the death.

According to reports, shortly after 3pm, a man was sitting in the driveway of his home at Jacaranda Street, when two men in a grey SUV approached and shot him before speeding off. The victim was declared dead at the scene.

Distress

The murders came after Prime Minister Perry Christie told reporters on Friday that he is “distressed” by the country’s crime problems, which he said now requires a more aggressive approach by the government and law enforcement.

Mr Christie also suggested that there could be an “impact on our own freedom to move about” as the government seeks to implement new crime fighting strategies.

He went on to pledge greater commitment on the part of the government to dedicate all of the necessary resources to get a handle on the scourge of violent activity in the Bahamas.

“But I just want to be able to say that every time someone is killed it diminishes us and I accept that,” Mr Christie said on the sidelines of the National Data Protection symposium on Friday. “I am very concerned about this matter to the point where it now will cause me to even dedicate more time and a greater degree of scrutiny to the effort.”

“It sometimes (is) not easy given the demands to do the things I would like to do and it’s a frank admission that we have to rely heavily on being able to have the strategies that are going to be utilised or employed in this matter to fight crime.

“Understand and accept by that I mean that sometimes what you do will have an impact on our own freedom to move about and so it is as strong as that. We are going to have to be much more aggressive in this battle.”

Mr Christie added that he has been in discussions with State National Security Minister Keith Bell regarding major strategies being put forward and also plans to meet with the heads of the country’s armed forces over crime.