The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

POLICE shot and killed two men known to them yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander said.

Their deaths marked the third time this month there has been a police-involved killing in the country.

The Tribune understands the men are Roy Stubbs and Ernest Forest. One of them had been electronically monitored for three counts of attempted murder and firearm possession, sources told The Tribune. The other had recently been released from prison, having previously been charged with serious offences. 

ACP Fernander said: “Shortly after 2pm this afternoon, acting on information, officers responded to this general area off Cowpen Road where they saw a suspicious vehicle. Two male occupants on the scene, exited with handguns and engaged the officers. Officers, being in fear for their lives and persons in the general area, returned fire. Both male occupants were fatally shot. At this present time, we are conducting investigations and the coroner, who already visited, has been briefed.

“It is in the hands of the coroner who will continue investigations. I just want to assure the members of the public their police officers, their Royal Bahamas Police Force is up and about in communities just to make sure they are safe. We just want them to continue to pray for us as we know it is not an easy task and as we leave home and leave our families we don’t know if we will return.”

ACP Fernander said the men were in their mid-30s. He said two weapons, both firearms, were recovered from them.

On Friday last week, a man, who police said was armed, was shot and killed in Abaco during a confrontation in the Central Pines area. The man, police said, discharged shots into a crowd. 

Assistant Superintendent of Police Terecita Pinder said the man had pointed his firearm in the direction of officers before he was shot. A black tech-9 weapon, magazine and ammunition were recovered from the scene, police said. 

Police-involved shootings are handled by the Coroner’s Court which must hold an inquest into each incident to ascertain the facts. However, there remains a significant backlog of such cases at the court. Last December, Attorney General Carl Bethel vowed to implement either administrative or legislative fixes to address the backlog, calling it “unacceptable.” It is not clear what measures have since been implemented or are being contemplated. 

According to The Tribune’s records, 11 people were killed in police-involved shootings last year. Authorities, however, do not typically release statistics of such matters or confirm the identities of victims for the record.