By Leandra Rolle 

lrolle@tribunemedia.net 

A MAN is dead after a shooting incident in Coconut Grove early yesterday morning, police have said.

According to reports, shortly before 2am officers received reports of gunshots in the Robinson Road area.

Shortly afterwards a man’s body was found lying on the ground at Second Street, Coconut Grove, with injuries.

Police said paramedics were called to the scene and attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead.

According to The Tribune’s records, this latest killing has pushed the country’s murder count to 96.

It has been two weeks since a mother-of-six, Cleo Lockhart, was found shot to death on a track road in Nassau Village. This death marked the country’s 95th murder.

Last year, police recorded a total of 91 murders, which was a considerable decrease from 122 in 2017. It was also the first time since 2010 when fewer than 100 murders had been recorded in a single year.

In June, National Security Minister Marvin Dames said he was hoping for a murder count this year that fell below 85. It was a more ambitious goal than the one set by the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, which said they wanted to reduce the number of murders in the country to the same number by 2021.

But, with the country’s murder rate having already surpassed last year’s count, officials have since noted the increase to be a result of police resources being stretched thin in dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.

However, well-known religious leader Bishop Simeon Hall has said in order to curb the escalating homicides in the capital, the country needs to stop “playing the blame game” and instead inspire more fear into the minds of criminals.

“As a society, we’ve done miserably in placing fear in the minds of criminals. Most hardened criminals in our country are not afraid of the police and believe they could beat the court system,” Bishop Hall said.

“…We must match this culture of death with a national approach where the fear of crime by the public will be outdistanced by the fear to commit crime by criminals...We need to send a strong message that if you do the crime, you will do the time.”

In the meantime, anyone with information on the country’s latest homicide and/or other crime matters can contact the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991/2, Crime stoppers at 328-TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.