The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE first homicide of 2017 was recorded in the capital mere hours into the new year when a man, whose body was riddled with gunshots, was discovered by a group of friends in an efficiency apartment on Dabloon Drive, off Faith Avenue on Sunday.

According to Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander, officer-in-charge of the Central Detective Unit, police responded to the scene shortly after noon, after one of the victim’s friends called to report the gruesome discovery.

He said yesterday that police have not taken anyone into custody and did not have a motive for the killing. Authorities expect to officially identify the man today, Chief Supt Fernander said.

The incident happened several hours after two men were killed in separate incidents on Saturday, closing out a bloody year. The homicides brought the murder toll to 113, according to The Tribune’s records.

According to reports, at around 2.30am on New Year’s Eve, a man had just left Club Luna at West Bay Street in his vehicle, when someone fired several shots at him. Police have yet to release his identity.

“The male lost control of his vehicle, sending it into the water at Saunders Beach,” police said. “Shortly thereafter, the lifeless body of the male was pulled from the vehicle by bystanders and taken to shore where he was pronounced dead.”

Onlookers said police were snorkelling in the shallow area of the beach and had blocked the road in both directions after the incident. They watched as officers escorted a tow truck with a black car covered in sand away from the scene.

On Saturday night, a man was killed and three others shot in an incident on Sandilands Village Road. Police said the victims are in hospital recovering.

Last year was the sixth in succession that the Bahamas has recorded 111 deaths or more. The worst year on record was 2015, when 146 murders were recorded.

Under the current PLP administration, more than 570 homicides have been recorded since they came to power in May, 2012.