By JADE RUSSELL
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
AFTER the country’s latest homicide on Thursday, press liaison officer Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings urged residents to seek help in resolving conflicts so that fewer lives are lost this Christmas.
Police said a man who was recently released from prison was shot dead outside his home on Thursday.
The incident reportedly occurred around 7.30pm in the area of Eighth Street, Coconut Grove.
According to initial reports, the victim was sitting on the porch of his residence with others when two men got out of a small white Japanese vehicle and discharged multiple shots in his direction.
The victim was shot multiple times about the body before the suspects returned to their vehicle, speeding off in a northern direction on Eighth Street.
EMS personnel responded to the scene and reported no vital signs of life.
The deceased, who was known to the police, was recently released from being electronically monitored in reference to possession of a prohibited weapon.
CSP Skippings spoke to reporters on Friday, at the Royal Bahamas Police Force Headquarters on East Street about the shooting incident, urging residents to reach out to police to help in resolving conflict issues.
“I want to take this time again, because in every home people know, who have conflicts with one another. Family members know. And again, we appeal to your family members. If you don’t have the skills to be able to help your loved one, resolve the conflicts.
“We’re asking you to reach out to The Royal Bahamas Police Force, we are trained capable people who can actually walk you through the steps to resolve your conflicts reach out to us, if you do so we can minimize or even prevent most of these incidents from happening inside our country.”
In terms of the deceased’s criminal status, she said: “He was recently released from prison.”
She added: “He was not being electronically monitored at the time because he had already served his time.”
Asked if the country’s escalating murder count was a concern to police, CSP Skippings responded: “These are persons, these are mothers’ children. We’re very, very concerned and so if you reach out to us, I can assure you we can help to minimise most of these incidents from happening. Because they all have to deal with conflicts what some of them don’t realize is that even those of us who work were in conflicts every day. And a conflict is simply just a disagreement with someone saying something different from the other person.”
Recently, numerous alleged offenders who have been released on bail have been murdered, while some have been posted on wanted police posters for suspected murder or other serious crimes.
Some have argued offenders are safer inside prison rather than being granted bail, due to the high frequency of people on bail being killed.
When asked about the trend of people on bail being murdered CSP Skippings said the issue is always a cause of concern for law enforcement.
“We want to say to family members when your loved ones are released on bail, or they have been released from prison. We’re asking you to reach out to your law enforcement agency.
“Let them know who’s out on bail so that we can make periodic checks as well to ensure their safety as well. The Royal Bahamas police force is here for everyone. For everyone we’re going to provide that service for, it is just for members of the public to utilise our services to prevent some of these incidents from occurring.”
According to this newspaper’s records, the murder count currently stands at 127.
A series of murders have been recorded in the country in recent months, with fears mounting that 2022 will be a record-breaking year for murders.
The country’s highest murder count was in 2015. That year, there were 146 killings on record.
Last year, there were 119 killings recorded; 73 in 2020; 95 in 2019; 91 in 2018, and 122 in 2017.
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