Two men shot dead hours apart

Grandmother prays victim accepted God before his death 

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Two men were shot and killed in separate incidents just hours apart yesterday.

The homicides took place on John Road, off Baillou Hill Road; and Prison Lane, off East Street, within a stone’s throw of the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s headquarters.

In the first incident, authorities said a man driving a Nissan Cube on Baillou Road was shot by the occupant of a dark colored vehicle during a car chase.

The driver of the Nissan Cube crashed into a tree on John Road, adjacent to Naomi Blatch Primary School.

The victim, whose identity was not released, is believed to be in his early 30s.

When Eyewitness News arrived, the man’s body had already been removed from the badly damaged vehicle.

Lying front of the Cube was a crushed bicycle.

Police responded to reports of the shooting shortly after 6 pm, according to Superintendent Dencle Barr, the officer in charge of the Southern Division.

Bar said the victim was found slumped over in the front seat of the Cube with gunshot wounds.

Police are reportedly following several leads, but had not motive for the incident, he said.

The bicycle owner, who identified himself as ‘Nyabinghi’, told Eyewitness News Online that he normally stood beneath the tree where the car crashed and was thankful to be alive.

Nyabinghi said he heard around four loud bangs that sounded like fireworks before seeing the car crash just a few feet away from him.

He said he not realize the driver had been shot until he opened the door and saw that he was bleeding.

 “I was right there on the post, the white post,” Nyabinghi said.

“The car fly over to the tree, and hit the tree. It hit my bike and bang. You fear for your life and other people life to see a car flying like that.

“… It wasn’t nothing I could of do after that. The only thing I could do was open the door and let him catch some air. That’s all I could of do. I wanted to take him out, but I couldn’t go that far.

“I say let them call the ambulance and call the police. This is daily in Nassau. Life over death.”

In the second shooting, authorities said officers responded to reports of gunshots at Prison Lane around 9.40pm.

The body of a man was found lying on the ground with gunshot wounds.

According to reports, the victim was walking on the street when two men in a silver vehicle pulled up alongside him and began shooting.

While police canvassed the scene, family members of the victim huddled together behind the police perimeter, and consoled one another.

Idamae Bain, the victim’s grandmother, identified him as Keshawn Fortune, a 22-year-old employee at Odyssey Airport.

Several women screamed and had to be held back as the hearse carrying his body passed.

Bain said she was still in shock as she saw Fortune on Friday when he visited her.

“He said Grammy I have not forsaken you, but I love you,” she said.

“I just wished him well and told him to be careful. When I got the news this afternoon, I was saying ‘Keshawn got killed; where?’”

Bain said Fortune no longer lived in the area, but still visited often.

She said relatives cautioned him against returning because of a recent confrontation he had with several other men.

Bain said she did not know the nature of the dispute.

“We warned him not to, but I came to an understanding that some things in life you can’t shun,” she said.

“Whatever your destiny is, if has to take place. It’s hard, but this is where serenity comes. You have to accept the things you cannot change.”

Bain admitted that Fortune “had his faults”.

“I am not standing here saying he was perfect,” she said.

“I don’t know what it was between him and whoever, but however it is, when death comes to your door, you feel it.”

Asked to describe Fortune, she said: “To me, he had manners for me. Any misbehavior on the outside or what I might of heard about, but I have never seen him to disrespect me.”

At the scene, Bain prayed that when “[Fortune] saw death coming that he asked God to forgive him and he made peace with his soul.”

She also prayed for the assailants to put down the guns and turn themselves in, insisting there has been too much bloodshed in the nation.

“My brother, my baby. My God,” Fortune’s sister wailed, pleading with relatives to be allowed to go to the exact place where her brother was killed.

Forcing her way to location, she fell to her knees and placed her hands in the dirt that covered her brother’s blood on the ground.

She remained there for several minutes, clasping the bloodied dirt as she begged to hold her brother’s hand.

As relatives lifted her and attempted to carry her away, she pointed to the onlookers gathered and exclaimed: “All ya’ll round here. All y’all. All round here know what happened.”

A woman leading her away from the scene replied: “It’s already happened. God knows.”

The incidents marked the second and third murders for 2020.

Speaking to reporters on Prison Lane about the two killings, Superintendent Joy Bosfield said they were concerning.

“It is something that we never want to happen, but we would like to say to young persons or young men that if they could resolve some of the incidents instead of violence we would pray that they do so,” Bosfield said.