By RASHAD ROLLE & RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporters

FIVE people were shot from an automatic weapon in the Montagu Beach area last night. Eight shots rang out at 9.30pm as residents enjoyed the final hours of their Easter holiday break.

The victims were taken to Princess Margaret Hospital but police reported no deaths up to press time.

Authorities responded to the scene within five minutes, one eyewitness said, and, up to midnight, the area of the Nassau Fish Market was blocked off.

Residents travelling along East Bay Street had to take a detour to get onto the Eastern Road. Earlier in the weekend, police in Eleuthera shot a man brandishing a machine gun outside a nightclub on Easter Sunday.

Officers responded to reports of gunshots being fired near a nightclub in Lower Bogue, Eleuthera, shortly after 3am. Once at the scene, officers reportedly encountered a man who pulled out a firearm and discharged it in their direction. Police said officers engaged the assailant, wounding him in his lower body.

The firearm was recovered, police said, and the suspect was taken to a clinic where he was treated and later transferred to Princess Margret Hospital in Nassau.

A woman patron of the club was also shot during the incident, She is listed in stable condition.

In late March, police said a man was shot and killed at Graham Drive in Yellow Elder Gardens.

At the time, police said they were responding to reports of an armed man in the area. Officers saw a man who matched the reported description.

Police said the man opened fire on the officers, who returned fire.

The man was taken to hospital but died a short time later.

Police said they recovered a .40 Glock 9mm pistol with an extended clip and six rounds of ammunition at the scene.

In early February, police said officers shot and killed a man after he allegedly attempted to attack an officer with a silver knife in a shanty town located in the Joe Farrington Road area.