By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

ONLOOKERS say “pandemonium” broke out in downtown Nassau in broad daylight yesterday when a police officer opened fire on a fleeing vehicle.

The car’s driver reportedly refused to stop, hit the officer with his vehicle and attempted to speed off in the midst of downtown traffic.

One man said he was “stunned” by what happened, another said tourists fled in confusion after hearing gunfire, while an employee of a nearby jewellery store said she heard a gunshot and “saw people running through traffic.”

She said: “I was thinking, what the hell happened?”

The shooting happened around noon at Prince George Wharf and Frederick Street yesterday.

Eye-witnesses said an officer was trying to stop a silver Honda but the car sped off - hitting the officer with the car and knocking him off his bike.

Crispen Bullard, who was on top of Burger King’s roof doing construction, was a witness.

He said: “Officers were trying to stop a grey Honda hatchback. The fellow opened the door, knocked the police off the bike with the car door then drove away.”

Mr Bullard said the car turned onto Frederick Street from the wharf and the officer - back on his bike - pulled up next to the car and hit the window with his gun - breaking it.

However, said Mr Bullard, the car refused to stop and the officer then fired a shot - hitting the car’s rear tyre.

“I was stunned, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” he said.

Adrean Rolle was eating lunch at the nearby Burger King with her daughter when she saw the car and the cop and heard a gunshot.

“The police was yelling ‘stop, stop’ and the guy knocked him off the bike,” she said. “When the guy got to the corner by the light, he [the officer] shoot the tyre to make him stop, but he wouldn’t stop. He knocked the glass, but he wouldn’t stop.”

Ms Rolle added that after the shot was fired: “Everybody start running. Burger King broke out.”

A Burger King worker said she heard a gunshot but remained inside the restaurant while several workers and diners rushed outside to see the commotion.

A worker at nearby clothing store Bahamia said tourists and shoppers inside the shop were startled by the gunfire and hid in the back of the store.

“It was kind of pandemonium,” he said. “The tourists started running - they was all the way in the back by the stockroom, hiding in the changing rooms.”

The man added: “The car was trying to go straight up [Frederick Street] but because of the traffic, he couldn’t go so he squeezed his way past a couple of cars and some cars got dented and scratched up.”

Sources say both the officer and the driver of the car were taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries and the driver is currently assisting police with their investigations.