The Tribune

THE country’s murder count rose to 74 on Friday after three men were killed in separate homicides less than 24 hours apart.

Eight people have been killed since Sunday.

The latest murder took place before 3pm Friday near Shirley Street where a man was shot dead while driving in the area. The deceased was said to be in his early 30s.

“The information is that the vehicle was approaching the Shirley Street junction when another vehicle pulled up alongside of it and an occupant came on the side of that vehicle, hitting the driver and he succumbed to his injuries,” Police Superintendent Audley Peters told reporters on the scene.

The killing came hours after two men were fatally shot in different communities Thursday.

In the first incident, police said a man was standing on a sidewalk in the Washington Street area when he was approached by two armed men.

The men fired shots in his direction, fatally wounding him.

“Officers were dispatched (and) on their arrival , they discovered an adult male lying face down on an eastern sidewalk suffering from gunshot wounds,” police said.

“The victim was examined by the Emergency Medical technician who visited the scene. They later determined that there were no signs of life.”

Police said a second shooting happened on Rupert Dean Lane the same night.

Responding, officers found a man slumped over at his home’s entrance in the area.

Police said he had been shot several times about the body by a lone gunman as he was approaching his home.

The killings come as police continue their investigations into a series of homicides this week.

One of those killings took place in Grand Bahama, where a man was stabbed to death at a local bar on Wednesday.

The same day, a man was shot dead in the Pinedale area.

The murders followed a fatal stabbing and two shooting incidents that took place in New Providence between Monday and Tuesday.

The recent rash of homicides have reignited calls for more to be done to tackle the escalating crime rate in the country.

Last month, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe told parliament that there was an 18 per cent overall rise in crime in the country.

According to Mr Munroe, many of the victims murdered this year were alleged offenders who had been released on bail.

According to statistics released by the Royal Bahamas Police force last year, there were 60 murders recorded up to June 30 2021, representing a 62 percent increase from the year before.

“There were 55 murders in New Providence, four in Grand Bahama and one in the Family Island’s district with an overall solvency rate of 55 per cent,” the report read.

During the same period in 2020, 37 homicides were confirmed by police.

However, the murder count for this year now stands at 74, according to this newspaper’s records.