The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

NEARLY a year after six men were killed in a mass shooting on Jerome Avenue, Police Commissioner Paul Rolle said officers are still searching for information to advance their investigations into the killings.

The police chief made the remarks yesterday when asked for an update on the April 15, 2021, shooting, which is considered to be the deadliest shooting in recent times.

Police previously said several suspects were believed to have left town following the incident. Another person of interest was also said to have died since the incident, it was revealed in October.

Yesterday, Commissioner Rolle said police have not been able to move forward with the case due to insufficient evidence.

He also appealed to people with any information on last year’s shooting to contact police.

“We have had persons in custody, some of the main suspects that we had, there was insufficient evidence to proceed with charging before the court and they were subsequently released,” he said.

“So, if persons have more information to help us advance this investigation, then I would encourage them to bring that information to the police and help us to advance this investigation.”

This comes as officers continue their investigations into a recent spate of armed robberies in the capital.

The latest incident happened over the weekend when a woman was shot in her face during an armed robbery.

Police said the woman had just arrived at her home in Pinewood Gardens when two armed men approached her, demanding her to give them her blue Suzuki Swift.

The woman tried to evade the gunmen, but ended up getting shot in the face before the suspects took the vehicle.

Commissioner Rolle told reporters yesterday no one is in custody in connection with the incident. However, he said officers are hopeful that those responsible will soon be captured and brought to justice.

He said: “We continue to do our investigations with that and hope to bring these perpetrators to justice. We are concerned when we see things like this happen. I believe this is the second incident now where, particularly, a female was shot. I have said to the media a couple of weeks ago and expressed my concern with these increased robberies and people being followed home and I again want to re-echo (to) persons to be aware of their surroundings, especially women and men as well when they’re moving home, but these youngsters are preying on the weaker vessels.”

Asked yesterday if armed robberies are on the rise in the country, the police chief only said: “Armed robberies come in spouts. Sometimes, you would have a spike and we have seen recently a spike so you have peaks and troughs and so with those four incidents, we have had a couple of persons with these web shops.”

Yesterday, Commissioner Rolle also cautioned Bahamians against retaliation, saying violence is not the proper solution to resolve disputes.

This comes after Deputy Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander revealed last week that some of the country’s recent murders were retaliation killings.

“This whole issue of retaliation has to stop,” Commissioner Rolle told reporters yesterday, “and I’ve been saying for a while those persons like to settle their disputes themselves and that’s not the way civilised society behaves and when you have disputes, you should go to the court first and not try to resort strictly to violence. That mindset of Bahamian people has to change and everybody who lives in The Bahamas and we want to keep The Bahamas safe for everybody.”

According to this newspaper’s records, there have been 30 murders recorded so far for the year.