12.50pm UPDATE: Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade is hopeful that Clayton Fernander, commander of the Southeastern Division, will pull through his injuries after being shot multiple times last night.
"Fernander is a fighter," Mr Greenslade said, "and we know he will overcome the injuries he sustained. We will do all we can to ensure that he gets the best medical care and attention possible."
Investigations are continuing into the shooting.
By Stephen Hunt
Tribune Staff
TWO policemen – including senior officer Clayton Fernander – were shot in separate incidents last night, prompting Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade to call for the Bahamian public to unite to fight the unprecedented level of crime facing the nation.
Doctors were hopeful last night that Superintendent Fernander would survive his injuries – however, his injuries were described as life-changing, with one of his hands very badly damaged. The second officer was undergoing surgery as The Tribune went to press, with his condition described as critical. In the first incident, Superintendent Fernander was attacked by armed robbers outside his home.
The incident occurred shortly before 10 o’clock last night.
As he arrived at his home, Supt. Fernander was attacked by two men, who shot him multiple times. The Superintendent was armed at the time, but was not able to return fire. Seven shots were fired at the scene.
In a press conference at Doctors Hospital last night, Commissioner Greenslade said: “I am troubled to report that Superintendent Clayton Fernander was brutally attacked in the driveway of his home by two gunmen who opened fire on him.
“Mr Fernander tried the best he could to survive. Thank God, he did survive.
“He was rushed here to hospital and will in short order go into the theatre. His injuries are very significant.
“His right hand is pretty brutally mangled and he has injuries to the chest. We expect he will survive the ordeal. However, his injuries are going to be life-changing.”
As police officers gathered at the hospital, they were shocked when a car pulled up outside, driven by an off-duty police officer who had been shot in the head.
He was able to identify himself to his fellow officers and tell them that he had been driving in his car when he heard a noise and realised he had been shot. He was bleeding heavily, and lost consciousness before he could tell officers any more. The policeman – thought to be Constable Phillipian Brown – was rushed into the hospital by staff.
Commissioner Greenslade, who was joined at the press conference by the Rev Phillip McPhee and Bishop Gregory Minnis condemned the “unprecedented” levels of crime and called for the Bahamian public to unite against criminals.
He said: “I make an appeal for each upstanding citizen in this country to root out this scourge of criminality.
“When criminals are prepared to take on senior officers who are armed, with this we are going into a whole new level of criminality.
“I am asking all officers to get out of bed tonight. I am asking all citizens to tell us what they know.
“If you have any information, I invite you to please call us.”
The attack on Supt Fernander, who has served for more than 30 years in the force, is believed to have intensified when the robbers realised he was a police officer.
Commissioner Greenslade spoke briefly about recent criticism of the police force, saying: “I am amazed at the castigation of the Bahamas police force. That shows us in such a bad light. We need to be held to the highest standards, but we have to be very careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water.”
He also addressed owners of guns directly, warning them to put them down.
He said: “We cannot use guns to rob, to rape, to pillage - that is wrong. If you have guns, we are going to ask you to put them down.
“If you confront a police officer with a gun, there is a good chance you will be shot and killed.”
He said police were following a number of leads in the case of Supt Fernander’s shooting, but that there was little information in the case of the second officer.
The commissioner ended the conference by renewing his call to Bahamians to help the police to tackle crime.
He said: “There are people in this society who have no respect for the law.
“We have a country to save.”
Anyone with information on any crime – not just the shootings – is urged to call police on the emergency number 911, Crime Stoppers on 328-TIPS (8477) or 300-8476 in the Family Islands, or the National Crime Prevention Office on 302-8430/1.
Comments
Honeybun 11 years ago
Wow this is terrible!!! What is wrong with the young men in our country? Let us all continue to pray for our country...Almighty Father please help us.
bahamian242 11 years ago
A little bit too late!
242 11 years ago
they should investigate this. there might be more to thos than 2 random officers victims of robbery the same night... either way I hope they pull through.
positiveinput 11 years ago
you're right because with the first incident what was he robbed of noting that it was stated superintendent fernander was attacked by two armed robbers. or is it that the identity of the two suspects is known by the media.
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
until we become responsible sexually and stop produceing more fatherless children than our economy can absorb we are headed the way of Jamaica and Haiti with ever expanding slums and crime ..IT IS THAT SIMPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SP 11 years ago
Why is Commissioner Greenslade saying “I am amazed at the castigation of the Bahamas police force. That shows us in such a bad light". Has he had his head buried so deep in the hole of denial for the past few weeks that he began beleiving his own propaganda?
The well documented culture of police brutality could easily have created many enemies for the police. Hopefully we are not witnessing the beginnings of all out war between fed up brutalized criminals and the police.
Mr. Greenslades petition “I make an appeal for each upstanding citizen in this country to root out this scourge of criminality" is a pretty hard sell. As firstly upstanding citizens are not armed as was Inspector Fernander and secondly we have also been brutalized and traumatized by police officers over the decades. Who would want to help them and why?
Bahamians at large would in no way condone these criminal attacks, to the contrary. However, the police may have created their own monster, backing themselves firmly into a corner...and may very be....."all on their own like Pat Boon" on this one.
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
our police officers are us ,they are not some strange subset of people picked from another galaxy .We as a people discipline with violence .How many times have you heard a young mother or father ,more than often mother b/c the fathers are absent ,say " child if you don,t stop that i,m going cut your ass ' and then lose control and hit the child with a face of anger .This teaches violence as a conflict resolution ..As Pogo said i have seen the enemy and it is us .
JohnDoe 11 years ago
Don't quite understand your reasoning but I would suffice it to say that if the Police loses this battle all of society loses my friend. Today it is Supt. Fernander but tomorrow it could be you or your mother, daughter or son. Who would you look to for protection?
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
i was replying to SP by saying we as a people have become violent ,how can we expect our police not to be violent ,,we use violence to discipline and this teaches our children violence is an accepted form of conflict resolution ..the police can only mirror the mores and values ,or lack thereof , of the population they come from ,,homocide in the U/S is 4 per 100,000 ,,we are running at 27 per 100,000 ,,it all boils down to our lack of sexual responsibilty ..we are running a 75% illegitamacy rate ,,can anyone with an iota of sense expect crime to decrease ..
JohnDoe 11 years ago
I to was responding to @SP.
MonkeeDoo 11 years ago
If it is discovered that the perpetrators were out of prison on bail then the magistrate or judge responsible for granting the bail should be charged as an accessory in my view.
There never seems to be a problem with assembling two or three dozen police to check for speeding and seat belts but road blocks every night on a sustained basis seems to be an impossibility.
We are probably worse than Jamaica or Trinidad now, from a crime point of view, and once it gets into the tourism sector ( which it will ) its "good night Irene" !
Maybe less Urban Renewal and a greater police presence, in the problem areas, would bear more fruit than castigating the "public".
lazybor 11 years ago
if so, the judge is not responsible, he was just applying the law
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JohnDoe 11 years ago
Law enforcement in all civilized societies is a representation or extension of the State and the State draws its legitimacy, rights and authority from the consent of those governed and thus the State represents the people or you and me. It therefore follows that Law Enforcement represents and is a reflection of all members of a civilized society. Their behavior and conduct as well as their well-being are and should be a healthy reflection of what we as a society expect from each and every member of our society. In this regard I disagree with the Police Commissioner who seems to infer that the conduct of Law Enforcement officers should be judged by some different standard. No Mr. Commissioner, society should have a right to criticize Law Enforcement Officers for conduct or behavior outside of societal norms. Just as I have no right to violently assault my neighbor; similarly Law Enforcement Officers have no right to assault detainees who are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, not in the Police station or Barracks.
I do agree with the Commissioner, however, that any violent attack on any Law Enforcement officer is a direct attack on each and every member in our society and should met with the strongest rebuke and opposition. Standing by and allowing the criminal element to attack Law Enforcement is tantamount to a society cannibalizing itself and it will only be a matter of time before we become undone from the inside out. My fellow Bahamians, if you have any information that can assist Law Enforcement to protect you, your possessions and your society I beseech to go to your nearest community Police Station and report the information, because today it is Supt. Fernander but tonight or tomorrow it could be you or someone that is dear to you.
TalRussell 11 years ago
Comrades we all need the police. When they go down, Bahamaland goes down. Who else are you go'in call to protect you and your families, if the criminals defeat the police?
Are you prepared to confront these murderous hugs yourself when they try to enter your residence, or just turn over and go back to sleep? Worse yet they could be standing at the foot of your bed with a damn loaded gun or cutlass?
Yes, the police sure as hell do have their internal issues that must be dealt with, but we still want and need them to remain between us and the thugs, who want to bring harm to our families and friends.
Let's start by thanking each and every officer we come into contact with in uniform for their services, as we go about our daily routines. The Commish cannot do it alone. He must have our moral support and we need make our support visible. Each one of us needs to play our role to make the changes we want to see within the ranks of our policeman's and policewoman's.
dear Comrades without the police it can never again be "Better In Our Bahamaland?" They are your police and the better you get to know and understand that the majority are good, decent, dedicated officers, the more safer you and our "financial lifeblood visitors" can also expect to feel in our Bahamaland.
Remember, they even shot and killed Comrade John? Why wouldn't they kill you or one of your loved ones?
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Oracle 11 years ago
Truth be told...plain simple truth.....stop the political interference and involvement in the police force and let accountability return>>>>no more political appointment or reinstatement demoralizing the force and fostering divisiveness
John 11 years ago
I would not want the commisioner's job at this time for 10 times the pay. Right now we have a situation where citizens are complaining about police brutality..where at least 3 persons have died in police custody in recent times, and on the other hand we have a situation where police are being targeted and attacked by criminals. While we want the public to feel safe and confident that those rogue cops who step too far out-of-bounds will be effectively dealt with, by having criminal charges brought against them and/or being dismissed from the force, we also want to give upstanding and law enforcing officers the confidence that they can carry out their duties and responsibilities without being the subject of witchhunting scrutiny. What we do not want is good officers quitting the force, en masse, because they feel they no longer have the authority to carry out their duties effectively, or the ability to protect themselves, their families and the public at large, from violent and reckless criminals, whose intention is to subvert the law. Any person launching an attack on any law enforcement officer because of that officer carrying out his duties should be taken down (and taken out) by any means necessary.
getrightbahamas 11 years ago
Now we can finally have a crusade. there will be hell to pay and the police force is finally gonna get the orders to snuff out these rogues, no matter what it takes. these boys are their own worst enemy's. the rest of them can thank these 2 fools for the pressure that will come on them now. the public needs to brace for the fallout because many innocent will be in discomfort until the C.O.P is satisfied. PS. new jail anyone?
bismark 11 years ago
We should not condemn the police force,like any other organization you are going to have bad apples,i am positive that there are many dedicated officers who believe in doing the right thing,as for the commissioner,sir you don't need permission to do your job from nobody,you are the commissioner of police!The public awaits your action,murders,robberies,rapes,etc we are tired of being afraid in our homes,when we go out at night,nowhere is safe,these young lousy uneducated men don't want to do no better but terrorise innocent people we need action now!
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
the problem starts with our irresponsable sexual habits ,like the rest of the region ,Haiti ,jamaica ,we produce offspring faster than our economy can absob them ..we have been getting around this w/ an ever expanding civil service ,but the country can no longer afford that ..Until we behave responsably sexually crime and ghettos will increase ..Good people don,t have 6 kids by 4 different dead beat dads by the time they are 24
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