The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

RESIDENTS of a quiet Freeport subdivision were shocked after a man was found shot to death at his home in the upper-middle-class area known as The Ridge Tuesday morning. The victim, who is a well-known resident of Freeport in his late 40s, was discovered by a friend.

Supt Brian Rolle, of the Grand Bahama Central Detective Unit, said police received information sometime after 10am of a report of a lifeless male in his residence at Inagua Avenue.

Officers were sent to the scene where they discovered a man who appeared to be lifeless, lying on the ground suffering from what appeared to be gunshots to the upper body.

When The Tribune arrived, yellow crime scene tape had cordoned off entry. A pathologist was directed to a reddish brown brick residence on the corner.

Supt Rolle told reporters that police are in the initial stages of the investigation. “We are still trying to establish some things,” he said.

When asked if the deceased is a Bahamian, he said that the victim is a black male believed to be of Haitian nationality. “He is well-known in Grand Bahama,” said Supt Rolle.

“A friend discovered him; he is a male in his late 40s. Foul play is suspected, the gunshots were not self-inflicted.”

The man’s identity has not been released pending notification of a next of kin. However, it is believed the deceased is known as “King David”.

The Ridge area is known to be a quiet subdivision. A number of unmarked police vehicles were parked outside the victim’s home, and officers were standing guard outside. A neighbour, who identified herself as Mrs Lafleur, said the victim lived alone and was a quiet man who mostly kept to himself. “If I am outside, he will hold up his hand and wave, but I don’t really know him like that and I could not tell you his name,” she said.

When asked if she had heard gunshots, Mrs Lafleur said she had not but that at least two other neighbours had heard shots around 1am on Tuesday.

“A neighbour told me she was praying and heard two gunshots, and when she looked outside she only saw a black car, but he (the deceased) has a black car,” she said. “This is a quiet neighbourhood. He was helpful, and one time he helped change my tyre, but nobody knows him,” she said.

When asked if she was shocked to learn about the incident, the neighbour said she was.

“Shocked? Yes,” she said. “I went out this morning, and no tape was there, nothing was there. When I come back, I see the tape and the police came and asked us questions like if we know happened and if we hear anything happen, and I said no, and I was shocked,” she said.

The killing brought the murder total for Grand Bahama to seven for the year.