The Tribune

By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

ONE man is dead and a one-year-old girl is fighting for her life in hospital after they were ambushed by two masked armed men on Thursday night. Two other men were also shot during the incident; they are listed in serious but stable condition.

The murder took place shortly after 7.30pm off Scott Street and brought the country's murder count to 30 for the year and 16 for the month, according to The Tribune's records.

Officer in Charge of the Central Detective Unit Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander said on Friday that police have three men in custody in connection with the shooting.

"According to reports, a group of persons were standing in front of a home on Scott Street, off Hospital Lane, when two males armed with handguns approached and fired several shots at them before fleeing on foot," Chief Supt Fernander said.

"Three adult males along with the infant child were rushed to hospital where one of the males, who was shot in the head, died and the other two males were remain in serious but stable condition. The child’s condition is listed as critical."

Police have not officially identified the victim but The Tribune understands he is 32-year-old Leonardo Sweeting. In a video posted on Mr Sweeting's Facebook page hours before his death, Mr Sweeting said "real men don't rob or kill, they work".

"This is what real men do, they don't kill people, we get out here, on these streets and we work hard. We work. If your God is as real as mine and he kept you all week from the enemy and he is willing to carry you some more just say amen cause God is good all the time," he posted.

When asked if the shooting incident was related to another shooting that took place a few weeks before in the same location, Chief Supt Fernander said that is a "line" police are following.

"We are aware of that shooting incident, but we have not connected or confirmed if the incidents are related. We have three men in custody at this time and we hope to wrap this case up very soon."

The number of killings for the first 54 days of the year has dwarfed the number of murders police recorded in the first two months of 2016. According to police statistics, there were 18 killings in the first two months of last year - eight in January and 10 in February.

Thursday’s shooting came four days after police in New Providence launched an island-wide manhunt and public appeal for five suspects responsible for a shooting incident on Sunday night that left a man dead and a woman detained in hospital.

The increase in murders this year prompted Minister of National Security Dr Bernard Nottage to unveil additional crime fighting methods last week.

Speaking in the House of Assembly, Dr Nottage said with immediate effect “lockdowns” in certain areas, mobile police vans and an armed forces partnership among other things would be implemented.

He further admitted that people connected to “gangs, drugs and guns” are linked to the frequent killings.

Dr Nottage also said intelligence has suggested that there are connections between many violent incidents on the streets of New Providence and inmates at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services and recently released prisoners.

Anyone with information on any of these incidents is asked to contact police at 911 or 919, the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 328-TIPS.