The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander said yesterday evening that officers are closing in on the person they believe killed Inspector Carlis Blatch, the aide-de-camp to Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling.

"I will have some good news for the Bahamian people shortly," he said.

ACP Fernander said two people are in custody assisting police with their investigation, though they are not suspects in the shooting. The conditions of their detainment are unclear. ACP Fernander couldn't say if they were cooperating with police.

Insp Blatch was said to be sitting in his vehicle on Wednesday, with his 13-year-old daughter, waiting for his son who attends HO Nash Junior High when a gunman approached him and pointed a gun in his direction.

The gunman ordered him to get out of the car, then shot him. The gunman pulled him out of the car, got into the vehicle and drove off. He eventually abandoned the vehicle at a corner off Farrington Road. Before that happened, Insp Blatch's daughter got out of the car and ran for help, police said.

Insp Blatch was immediately remembered for his professionalism. He worked at Government House for 14 years.

Yesterday, Our News spoke to Insp Blatch's brother, Marcus Blatch, who revealed that he spoke to his older brother about half-an-hour before the shooting.

"I called him yesterday (Wednesday) and soon as I called him he said 'I just was about to call you,'" he said. "He said he is there consumed with work, trying to knock it out and I said bye and we'll talk later. Half-an-hour later I got a call that he was shot. I tried calling his phone, just got voicemail."

The younger Mr Blatch said his brother had four children. "They are trying their best," he said. "Their parents are trying their best to let them understand what it is that's going on."

He said his brother "was a family man".