Assistant superintendent shares grave concerns of “out of hand” gang turf war
Grove area gang increasing membership, more organized
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A leaked recording of a Royal Bahamas Police Force briefing on the ongoing gang warfare in New Providence, indicates that several gangs have been warring for turf in the Grove and Ridgeland areas.
In the briefing, an assistant superintendent provides an overview of the increased gang activity, shootings and murders taking center stage in those areas or stemming from gang factions.
“Rivalry in the south central, meaning the Grove area; Grove and Ridgeland area; that is something that we are facing right now that is a very serious problem,” he said.
“We have a major problem going on in that area with gang violence with “Tiger Nation” and “Grove Hot Boyz”. We have a problem that is out of hand. Every day we have something in that area that we are firmly monitoring.”
Graphics were displayed detailing the rival gangs, their known members and associates with photos, and a history of their origins.
According to the senior officer, “Crack Nation’s” rival gang is the “Dirty South Gang”.
He said six members of “Crack Nation” including their purported leader, Renardo ‘Crack Teeth’ Bastian, were shot dead in April.
He was likely referring to the April 15, 2021 incident later coined the Jerome Avenue massacre.
Those killings remain unsolved.
Though police arrested a number of people in connection with the incident, Police Commissioner Paul Rolle said this week that there was insufficient evidence to charge some of the main suspects.
The assistant superintendent named Bastian’s successor as the new leader of the gang.
The dossier on Tiger Nation, a reported offshoot of the “One Order” gang, claims notorious criminal Stephen Die Stubbs was still giving orders from prison where he is serving a more than 30-year sentence for murder and attempted murder.
As the known associates of Tiger Nation were shown with photos, the officer pointed out that several of the men had already been killed.
More than 22 names and photos were shown for the gang, but the officer indicated that these were just “some of the pictures on it; we have a lot more intelligence” of alleged gang members.
The officer also said the Grove gang must be monitored closely as its membership was increasing and its structure was becoming more organized.
“They are committing various offences including shootings and murders and are now stretching its territory throughout the Grove,” he said.
Underscoring the rate of shootings police observed, the officer noted that around 55 gunshots were picked up via ShotSpotter in a seven-day period (January 11-18) in central New Providence.
In one instance, 13 shots were recorded from one location, he said.
“Over a period of a few days, look how much gunshots went off in just this general area,” the officer said.
“You could see four, nine, four, one, three, three, four, one, three, five [shots]. Just 13 at one point. And these [are] the things that we are facing on a daily basis.”
Bloodshed
There have been nine murders in the last two weeks.
A man was shot dead on Stewfish Drive off Carmichael Road yesterday.
Around 6pm Tuesday, a man was shot in the head on Wrights Lane off Wulff Road.
He died on scene.
Two men and a woman were shot on Westend Avenue when a car pulled up alongside the group and began shooting.
One man died on scene.
The other man died in hospital the following morning.
On March 12, two men were killed in separate incidents.
A father of four was shot dead on Thompson Lane, off East Street and another man was shot dead on Cordeaux Avenue off Baillou Hill Road.
A father of two was shot and killed on 8th Street, Coconut Grove, on March 11.
Some of the incidents have been linked to gang violence.
Yesterday, a male AF Adderley student was stabbed and had to be hospitalized.
Two male students were detained.
In Parliament, Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe said the students taken into custody were believed to be affiliated with a gang and the stabbing was gang-related.
The minister said he and executives of the RBPF were minded to place police officers in schools, insisting there was a need for urgency.
The school off Baillou Hill Road is on the outskirts of the Ridgeland area.
There have been 29 murders for the year, 14 or 48 percent of which occurred this month alone.
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