A policewoman comforts distraught onlookers at the scene of the murder at the old City Market site yesterday. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune staff
By NICO SCAVELLA
Tribune Staff Reporter
nscavella@tribunemedia.net
POLICE are asking “what went wrong” after a male construction worker was shot to death on the job at the worksite of the new Post Office building on Tonique Williams-Darling highway yesterday afternoon.
Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander, the Officer-in-Charge of the Central Detective Unit (CDU), said the deceased, who appeared to be in his mid-40s, was the only construction worker killed by the lone gunman yesterday, despite being one of “a number of other employees” working at the old City Market site.
He confirmed that the deceased was known to police and had been “in and out of the system” prior to his death.
However, Chief Supt Fernander said police have no motive for the killing, which pushes the murder count to 36 for the year, according to the The Tribune’s records.
According to police, the construction worker was with a number of other employees in the westernmost portion of the plaza shortly after 2pm, when a lone gunman entered the area. The gunman shot the man in his body and then fled on foot, Chief Supt Fernander said.
“We don’t know the motive at this time,” Chief Supt Fernander said. “The big question is: what went wrong? It appears as though he was the target because there was a number of other employees working in this area and the gunman approached him and shot him, so something went wrong.
“That is the line of inquiry that we are following as we speak. We are speaking to some of the workers who were present during the time of the shooting. We’re also doing some door-to-door inquiries in this general area to see whatever assistance we could retrieve.
He added: “We appeal to members of the public who may have been passing in this area, we have some business establishments just behind this construction site, also a residential area. So we’re appealing to anybody who would have been in this area, or saw or heard anything to please come forth to assist in advancing this investigation.”
On Sunday, two bodies of two boys were discovered with execution-style gunshot wounds to the head on a dirt road off Graham Drive, Yellow Elder Gardens.
Police formally identified the victims yesterday as 13-year-old Keishon Williams, of Plantol Street, and 15-year-old Devonte Lindsey, of Knowles Drive, Bozine Town. Williams was a student at Government High School, according to police, who confirmed that Lindsey was a student of AF Adderley High School.
Hours after the discovery of the bodies, Prime Minister Perry Christie reflected on the efficacy of his government’s anti-crime efforts as he restated his administration’s commitment to stopping the “madness that has seemed to grip our country.”
Mr Christie told The Tribune the increase in homicides is bigger than the Progressive Liberal Party, the Free National Movement and the Democratic National Alliance.
He said everyone must come together to save the reputation and integrity of the Bahamas.
Comments
alfalfa 7 years ago
Was this yesterday(Sunday) or today(Monday)?
John 7 years ago
Don't worry, "we gat dis."
sp1nks 7 years ago
Stop, stop, stop! Who cares if he was 'known to police'? Whatever his history, this man was on his job, and presumably trying to do the right thing. Are we so desperate that we need to characterize every murder as the victim somehow deserving it? I don't care you who are, no one deserves to be cut down in this way.
Politicians and officials: have some integrity, call the callous and brazen acts what they are. If you want help from the public, pretend to give a damn.
mdaniel2 7 years ago
No politician said - 'known to police'- that's the media. Call is where it belongs.
Fitmiss 7 years ago
I was wondering the same thing. Why was his background even mentioned at the time? I guess it is their way of saying case closed or something. I hope they will make an attempt to solve this case as these murderers are really brazen.
Zakary 7 years ago
Apparently we are that desperate, and so anyone who is killed somehow magically “deserved” to be killed.
John 7 years ago
Attention Mr. Perry Christie: When you are really serious about tackling crime in this country and especially murder, you need to invest in resources other than jails, the police force and crime fighting equipment. Basically you are dealing with psychologically "damaged" young people who can no longer control their actions. This is a situation that was started some 20 years ago. Once persons are exposed to certain drugs or chemicals, they lose the ability to control their (violence) actions. They virtually become zombies, devoid of human feelings. There are criminal psychologists who can give better details. Most of the illegal drugs on the street has been altered and contribute to the serious crime problem. It is destroying many young people. More than half the young men in New Providence inner cities are abusing substances that alter their character and their behavior. . "In 1995, the criminologist and political scientist John DiIulio was invited to the White House to attend a working dinner on juvenile crime. "President Clinton took copious notes and asked lots of questions," he reported. So what did DiIulio tell him? In late 1995 DiIulio wrote a magazine article that gives us a pretty good taste:
The Coming of the Super-Predators
We're talking about kids who have absolutely no respect for human life and no sense of the future....And make no mistake. While the trouble will be greatest in black inner-city neighborhoods, other places are also certain to have burgeoning youth-crime problems that will spill over into upscale central-city districts, inner-ring suburbs, and even the rural heartland.
...."They kill or maim on impulse, without any intelligible motive"....The buzz of impulsive violence, the vacant stares and smiles, and the remorseless eyes....they quite literally have no concept of the future....they place zero value on the lives of their victims, whom they reflexively dehumanize.... capable of committing the most heinous acts of physical violence for the most trivial reasons....for as long as their youthful energies hold out, they will do what comes "naturally": murder, rape, rob, assault, burglarize, deal deadly drugs, and get high.
It's hardly surprising that this made an impression. A couple of months later, in early 1996, Hillary Clinton gave a speech about her husband's anti-crime agenda. In particular, she noted his efforts against drug gangs:
We also have to have an organized effort against gangs, just as in a previous generation we had an organized effort against the mob. We need to take these people on. They are often connected to big drug cartels, they are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called "super-predators"—no conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel."
Kevin Drum.
UserOne 7 years ago
You are right except for one thing. This started more than 20 years ago. The beginning of this societal decay began in the Pindling era with the influx of drugs.
banker 7 years ago
Co-sign.
Fitmiss 7 years ago
This is getting out of control.
DDK 7 years ago
GETTING?
Naughtydread 7 years ago
" He had been in and out of the system" "There was no know motive" seems like this guy essentially just reads off of his script every time a young man is killed in broad daylight in cold blood. Do we have detectives on the force who actually solve any murders, especially those committed in broad daylight with multiple people around!? God this country is a mess!
ashley14 7 years ago
God Bless these families! I'm planning on traveling to Nassau alone soon. I've been trying to locate a friend from years past. Is it safe. Really I don't know. I used to walk all over the Island and felt totally safe. I just don't know anymore. I don't want to go to Paradise Island and stay just on the hotel property. That's not why I come to the Island. I can't explain it. I left my heart there years ago. Now it breaks my heart to see so many people hurting.
reverendrichlkemp 7 years ago
Unfortunately, this will continue because the murdering population knows that they won't have to pay with their lives if and when they are caught, so the senseless killing will continue. Yes, I believe in Capitol punishment. The murdering is already up to 36 and its not three months yet, so by the end of the 2017 the number of young BLACK on BLACK murders can easily be 144....Self-hatred, negative self-awareness, poor self-esteem, no self-respect or self-love results in heartless murdering of your own kind...ALL the result of Colonial slavery self-hatred mind condition. This scenario in not limit to the Bahamas. Blacks throughout the world are killing themselves much more than the KKK or racist colonialism ever has. It's foolish, ignorant and stupid to blame or to think that a particular government can solve this. NO GOVERNMENT CAN, ANY WHO SAY THEY CAN AND WILL ARE LYING AND DECEPTIVE. But you are a bigger fool if you believe them. Crime is a heart issue...an individual heart issue, not politics, not a government. Until and unless these young men REPENT, murders will be REPEATED. The word REPENT means to change your mind, to think a new thought, to think again...to be RENEWED in the mind. When we love ourselves correctly, then we can love others correctly...this is what The Late Great Bob Marley meant when he sang, " EMANICIPATE YOURSELF FROM MENTAL SLAVERY. "
UserOne 7 years ago
The murdering population do pay with their lives because they are murdering each other.
John 7 years ago
"Emp Blacks throughout the world are killing themselves much more than the KKK or racist colonialism ever has. It's foolish, ignorant and stupid to blame or to think that a particular government can solve this. hasis That is what they want you to believe. We as a people must start paying more attention to what is going on in the world. Monitor our food and water supply and the vaccines and medication they are giving to our young children. There are mad scientists out there who believe the world is overpopulated and the only way for it to sustain itself is to reduce the population by two thirds. And guess who will decide who live or die?. they are developing machines that can do most of the work humans can do at a fraction of the cost and with less supervision. Bahamians, by nature, are not violent people or killers. But when induced with tainted drugs and alcohol or chemically laced food, their nature will change. Bahamians need to go back to a plant based natural diet for starters. But no we moved all the fruit and vegetable stalls off Potters cay and replaced them with music and alcohol. Music that promotes violence and disharmony. We say we are a Christian nation but even life is not scared anymore. Our values have (been) changed.The Bahamas is a prime piece of real estate and guess what? people will kill for it...be careful who you let in your gates...those who have ears let them hear.
banker 7 years ago
by banker
TalRussell 7 years ago
Justices Kennedy & Breyer on Cameras in the Supreme Court?
........////https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cRDB...">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cRDB...
John 7 years ago
Meanwhile in the US: boarder crossings from Mexico to the US has declined by 45% while persons wishing to cross from the US to Canada has increased by 68%. While many trying to cross into Canada are undocumented immigrants who feel they will be deported, Most Americans trying to cross fear America is headed for another war.
ashley14 7 years ago
Unfortunately John your probably right. Our government is more corrupt than you want to know.
ashley14 7 years ago
Unfortunately John your probably right. Our government is more corrupt than you want to know. I don't think I could sleep again if I knew the half of it. We have to hold on to the ones we love tightly and take care of each other.
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