The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

RONALD Pierre remembers pleading with his younger brother to transform his life for himself and his young daughter.

Yesterday that brother, Carlos Frederick, 44, became the sixth person killed by police this year.

Numbed by the news when he first spoke to The Tribune, Mr Pierre said his family is struggling to piece together what happened. In a statement, police said they were responding to reports of gunshots on Grant Hill Street in Fox Hill when they encountered a man who was acting suspiciously shortly after 2am on Tuesday. They said when they approached the suspect the man produced a firearm and pointed it towards them, prompting a struggle. Fearing for their lives, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said officers fired their weapon at the suspect. Paramedics later pronounced Frederick dead at the scene. Police said they recovered a black handgun.

Mr Pierre said he has heard competing narratives about what happened: some of his brother’s friends have told him Frederick had no gun while others told him his brother had a weapon but did not draw it and aim it at officers. He said he was told officers fired eight shots. Frederick, he said, was struck in his head.

“I spoke to a police officer at a station in Fox Hill, they say they have no information to share with us,” he added.

One man who identified himself as “Keiddy” said he was present at the scene when the incident occurred. He told The Tribune Frederick––also known as “Yam”––indeed had a gun.

“He hangs out on the blocks and sells his five dollar nickel bags,” he said. “He had a gun on him for true. They say at night guys might come for them so they carry guns for their protection. I’ve seen him with the gun and he always does have it when night comes. The police pull up on him. He got catch fair and square. They saw the gun and they told him ‘stop.’ But he was trying to just get a little bit away from them because he know they would run after him. One officer said, ‘Sarge that’s (a) gun, gun - fire?’ And the (sergeant) said ‘submit, submit’ but he didn’t submit and sarge said ‘fire.’”

The entire encounter, Keiddy said, happened in about ten seconds. 

“He would never shoot at the police,” he added. “He didn’t aim it at them. He was trying to get away. But he capable of shooting someone else with that gun. He’s a bad boy and to me the police did good.”

Frederick’s father, Camelus Frederick, said his son’s daughter is now seven; his other child, a 19-year-old youth was killed in the United States several years ago.

Mr Pierre said his brother performed landscaping services throughout the Village Road and Bernard Road areas. His brother could be a “good boy or a bad boy” depending on his mood and the circumstance, he said, adding that Frederick had served time in prison before.

“I don’t want say ‘aw he was a good guy,’ I don’t want to say that,” he said. “I want to tell you the truth. Sometimes he was quiet, sometimes, boy, I could tell you he had a bad side. He had the two sides. But since he lost his first son, I spoke to him and gave him advice, I say ‘if people think you are a bad boy, you have to become a good boy because you’ve lost your first son.’ That’s why I told him, stay from the troubles. I told him you have to find something to do. At one point he was doing something at Baha Mar. Sometimes he went to Abaco to do construction. When you have kids, if something happen to you before, you ain’ suppose to let the kids hear about that and continue to do that. I told him, you have to change your life.”