NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Two days into the new year, a man and woman were shot to death as they slept in a residence on Mantol Street in the Montel Heights area.
According to reports, their killer – believed to be a man – entered the home shortly before 3am on Monday.
Police arrested two men shortly after the incident and the pair are reportedly assisting police with investigations.
“Both suspects are on bail for armed robbery and are presently being monitored via Electronic Monitoring Device (EMD),” read a statement.
Yesterday, Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander said he could not confirm whether the incident was intended to be a robbery.
He said the man who was killed was also on bail.
“The male is known to us and he is on bail for a serious crime so we believe that he may have been the target,” Fernander said.
“You won’t be able to prevent everything, this is Montel Heights, this kind of hour they entered the home unknown to the persons inside the residence and they were shot and killed.”
Fernander said this year the police are focused on a plan of action to “take the fight to the criminals” in an attempt to avoid the high murder rate in 2022, which capped at 128.
“We have a number of individuals who continue to commit serious crimes and get bail in a matter of weeks they are back out so we have a plan for them and we have to take the fight to the criminals and I want the Bahamian people to please support their police force as we move forward to make this year a prosperous new year and safer,” he said.
After a meeting with the Minister of National Security and the Director of Public Prosecutions late last year, the commissioner expressed that he is confident in the collaborative plan which will incorporate various sectors of the criminal justice system.
Fernander continued: “Especially individuals who are caught in possession of a firearm, in a matter of two weeks, they’ll be ready to go to trial so we have a plan of action and I’m hoping for a successful year and a good partnership as we move forward in 2023.
“[…] I will address the nation with Year in Review and we will let you know our plan in another two weeks or so we will be able to put our plan forward.”
Prime Minister Philip Davis also weighed in yesterday on crime prevention plans for this year.
“We are hoping to launch the youth guard program which intends to capture the youth to build our communities and to help to reduce the effects of crime, give our young people something to belong to,” Davis said.
“[…] Over the years we have spent too much efforts and too much resources on detecting crime, punishing crime; without any regard to what we call the preventative measures and rehabilitative measures.”
Davis said: “Emphasis will be placed on those two limbs of the crime-fighting initiative and you will be seeing very soon what I call saturation patrol, we are going to provide the police officers with all that they need, increasing their manpower, because there’s been a lot of attrition in the police force over the years and we’re trying to bring the force back up to strength.”
