The Tribune

A CHILD was shot dead in Nassau Village last night after a gunman opened fire outside a residence, police said.

The killing came after a woman’s body was found in an abandoned building on Dowdeswell Street yesterday morning and another woman was found washed ashore on a beach in Eleuthera on Saturday. Police say they suspect foul play in those incidents.

Police said Sunday’s shooting took place shortly before 9pm at Alexandria Blvd, when police received a report of gunshots being fired.

“Officers responded, and on their arrival, they met the body of a juvenile male lying face down with apparent wounds to the body,” ASP Audley Peters told reporters at the scene. “Information is that a blue vehicle approached a residence and an occupant opened fire on the persons that were gathered in front of this residence, resulting in the juvenile being hit.

“Based on the information that we’re receiving, we believe that the child was indeed caught in the cross-fire.”

ASP Peters said the child is between the age of six and ten.

He could not say where on his body the child was wounded.

Asked if police suspect the shooting was gang-related, ASP Peters said it was too early in the investigation to point to a motive.

“We are in our preliminary stages at the moment so we can’t give a definite answer of what was the cause of this incident,” he said.

There has been an uptick in violence in recent weeks as lockdown restrictions have eased. However, a nightly 10pm to 5am curfew remains in place. Asked if police were concerned about increase crime before or after the curfew period, ASP Peters said: “We’re concerned anytime crime occurs, we are also appealing to people in the community who have information of the people who are in possession of firearms or who are in possession of contraband to assist the police in rooting them out of our communities.

“We have to live in these communities and if we don’t take a positive step in ridding our communities of the individuals who are perpetrating these crimes on us, then we will continue to have incidents like these happen.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 502-9991, Crime Stoppers at 328-TIPS or the nearest police station.

Several children have been wounded by gunfire this year.

In June, a two-year-old girl was left in critical condition after she was shot by gunmen in Eleuthera. She was shot while being held in her grandmother’s arms, as the two sat on the porch of the woman’s home in Hatchet Bay.

Gunmen got out of a car and opened fire, police said. Moments later, the grandmother realized the toddler, Da’Nyla Roberts, had been shot.

Lorencia Simmons Walkes, 10, died on Sunday, June 7, more than a week after she was shot in the Carmichael area. The fifth grader attended Sybil Strachan Primary School.

She was among three people shot on May 29, after occupants of a gold coloured vehicle approached a group in front of a home at Belville Circle off Iguana Way shortly after 1pm, police said. Three men got out of the car with firearms and fired shots at the group, according to police.