F.O.A.M.: Time for the public to step up

F.O.A.M.: Time for the public to step up
Khandi Gibson, founder and president of Families of All Murder Victims (F.O.A.M.), speaks with Eyewitness News on Monday, January 4, 2021. (FILE PHOTO)

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Khandi Gibson, founder and president of Families of All Murder Victims (F.O.A.M.), yesterday urged the public to step up and take responsibility for the rate of crime and murder in the country.

Gibson’s call comes after a bloody week throughout the country, ending in multiple murders.

She noted that while the number of murders in the country has seen a “drastic drop” over the past year, there is always more that can be done.

The scene on Pitt Road where two men were found dead around 7.30am on Wednesday, December 30, 2020. (FILE PHOTO)

“One life lost is still one life too many,” she said in an interview with Eyewitness News.

“We are asking everybody now to come on deck.

“Stop pointing fingers. It ain’t the FNM; it ain’t the PLP; it ain’t the DNA. It’s now us.

“These people who are cutting these acts and doing these crimes, they live in our homes; they come from our community.

“We’re their sisters. They’re our cousins. They’re our uncles… We have to open our eyes and open our hearts.

“We can’t blame anyone now for when the chickens come home to roost.”

The latest killing occurred shortly before 4am on Monday, on Gilbert Street, Kennedy Subdivision.

On Sunday, a teenage girl believed to be 16 was shot dead and her younger brother injured during a shooting in The Farm in Treasure Cay, Abaco; and two men were also shot and killed in separate incidents on New Providence.

Police at the scene where a man was found dead with gunshot wounds in a classroom at Stapledon School on New Year’s Day. (FILE PHOTO)

One man was found dead in a van at the intersection of Willow Tree Street and Sapodilla Boulevard, Pinewood Gardens, shortly after 8pm, and the other man was found in a vehicle in Whites Addition, Kemp Road, around 10pm.

On New Year’s Day, an educator at Stapledon School was shot dead and discovered in a classroom on the campus.

The day before, two men were shot and died in hospital in separate incidents — one on Wilson Track and the other on Rupert Dean Lane.

On Wednesday, police reported a double murder on Pitt Road and the shooting of a man on Malta Street and Guyana Court, who later died in hospital.

According to Minister of National Security Marvin Dames, murders dropped 22 percent in 2020 compared to the year prior.

There were 74 murders in 2020, the lowest on record in 15 years.

The murder count for 2019 was 95, the lowest in a decade up to that point.

About Sloan Smith

Sloan Smith is a senior digital reporter at Eyewitness News, covering a diverse range of beats, from politics and crime to environment and human interest. In 2018, Sloan received a nomination for the “Leslie Higgs Feature Writer of The Year Award” from The Bahamas Press Club for her work with Eyewitness News.