By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

TWO men are dead and five others are in serious condition in hospital after a series of shooting incidents over the weekend.

The two killings pushed the country’s murder count to 19 for the year, according to The Tribune records, and marked five homicides in four days this month.

The latest shooting death, the second in nearly 24 hours, took place shortly before 9pm on Saturday off Faith Avenue.

Officer-in-Charge of the Central Detective Unit, Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander said a group of young men were playing dominoes in front of a business establishment near St Vincent Road when a man walked up to them and opened fire.

“Sometime around 8.40pm, a group of young men were playing outside when a lone gunman fired several shots at the crowd,” Chief Supt Fernander said.

“As a result, a young male was shot several times to the body and died on the scene. We do not know the motive for this shooting at the time but we are asking persons who may have been in the area at the time to come forward.”

About an hour later, police were called to the scene of another shooting this time in the Washington Street area.

Police said the victim was standing near the street when a man, armed with a handgun, approached and shot him before fleeing on foot, he was taken to hospital where he is listed in stable condition.

Earlier Saturday, around 9am, police were called to the scene of a shooting incident in Coconut Grove.

According to Chief Supt Fernander, two men were shot multiple times by two males in a champagne coloured vehicle. The victims were taken to hospital where they are listed in serious but stable condition.

The second homicide took place shorty after 7.30pm on Friday.

According to reports, two men were sitting in a vehicle on Durham Street, off Mount Royal Avenue, when two men with handguns approached and shot them before fleeing the area on foot.

The two men were taken to hospital where one of them died a short time after arrival. The other man remains in serious condition.

And then shortly before midnight, police said a man was sitting in his Honda Civic on St Cecilia Street, Chippingham, when a man with a handgun approached and robbed him of cash and a gold chain. The gunman then took the victim’s car and shot him before speeding off. The victim was taken to hospital where his condition is listed as serious but stable.

Chief Supt Fernander said police are “aggressively investigating” all of the shooting incidents. Police, he said, are working “hard” to ensure that the Bahamas is safe for everyone.

“We are following leads in respect to all of the shootings. I just want to ensure members of the public that the police are out there, we are doing some things and we will continue to try and make the Bahamas safe for everyone,” Chief Supt Fernander said.

“We are aggressively out there. A number of persons are being arrested and charged and we are saturating these areas and we encourage members of the public to come forward with information to assist us. It’s not only the police that fight crime; we have to hold hands to curb this crime situation. We have to come together to ensure everywhere is safe. We will aggressively go after persons who continue to wreak havoc in our society. We will continue to target them, we know the prolific offenders and we are charging persons but they are in and out of prison and they are continuing their old ways.”

There were 14 homicides in January, according to this newspaper’s records.

On February 1, two men in Grand Bahama were killed after they were shot while at Logwood Road in Freeport. One of the victims died at the scene while the other died in hospital.

On Thursday, February 2, a man died in hospital after he was shot after 1am while riding a moped on Bias Street in New Providence.

Anyone with information on any of these incidents is asked to contact police at 911 or 919, the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 328-TIPS.

Investigations continue.