The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

TWO men, including one who was on bail for murder, are dead after separate shooting incidents on Friday.

The first incident occurred around 2.30am.

According to police, a male victim was at a bar on Washington Street and Robinson Road when he was approached and subsequently shot multiple times by an unknown man.

The suspect, who was wearing dark clothing and a ski mask, fled on foot.

Police said the victim died on the scene.

A few hours later, police were investigating a shooting incident in Nassau Village.

Police said a 29-year-old man was at his residence on Lawson Street, Nassau Village after 1pm, when he was approached and subsequently shot multiple times by two males who got out of a small Japanese-type vehicle.

The victim was taken to hospital by EMS personnel, but later died, police said.

Police said they arrested a 30-year-old Nassau Village resident shortly after the shooting who is currently on bail for murder and is being monitored electronically.

The deceased was also being monitored electronically and on bail for murder, police said.

This brings the country’s murder count for the year to four, according to this newspaper’s records.

On January 2, a couple was shot dead as they slept. The incident took place in a home in Montell Heights. Police arrested two suspects shortly after the incident, one of whom was arraigned in connection with the double homicide on Friday.

In late December, in response to the rise in murders Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander said in 2023, officials will take policing to “another level”.

He said the police force’s new strategies will be revealed later this month.

Meanwhile, a local community activist has called for a shift in the way the country deals with crime following the rise in killings last year.

Dr Carlos Reid, a consultant to the Ministry of National Security, thinks the country’s crime crisis is a result of several root issues, adding that there are not enough resources dedicated to the prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation.

He deemed preventive measures as a vital part of tackling the matter, adding that individuals must be adequately prepared to face the reality of failure.

“We need to start raising up the kind of citizens that we basically want to see, so we have to go back to the basics,” he told this newspaper recently.

“What are we putting in these persons’ heads? We (are) training everybody for success, but I believe that the time has come when we got to prepare people for failure. Because success is something that you might experience, but failure is something that you will experience.”