By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames has called the police-involved shooting that left three men dead on Saturday “unfortunate” and “concerning”. However, he insisted that “at the end of the day, justice will prevail”.

Speaking ahead of a Cabinet meeting yesterday, the minister said: “Yes, we had a shooting over the weekend. All shootings are very concerning and unfortunate and that shooting like every shooting will be looked into. And at the end of the day, justice will prevail.”

His comments come amid public outcry against Saturday’s shootings, which marks the country’s deadliest police-involved killing since last year when three men were killed on the Blair Estates community.

The latest victims are 25-year-old Deshoan Smith, also known as “Spider”, and two other men who went by the names “Ridah” and “Dog Bite.”

The trio were killed by police on Cowpen Road on Saturday after an officer was “ambushed” by a gunman, police said.

According to Police Commissioner Paul Rolle, officers were on patrol in the area when they observed a white Honda Accord parked in the eastern section of Spikenard cemetery. When officers approached the vehicle, the commissioner said the driver drove off.

“Officers then got back into their vehicle and left,” the police chief told reporters on Saturday. “A short while later, driving on Cowpen Road again, they saw the vehicle through a side corner. They stopped and exited their vehicle.

“One of the officers approached what we believe to be the driver door, as the vehicle is heavily tinted. As he stood there attempting to speak with the driver, shots began to be discharged from the rear seat.”

He continued: “That officer then as he attempted to make his escape, the other officers that were there then engaged the participants of the vehicle who continued shooting at the officers. Once the shooting stopped we made a check and observed three persons inside the vehicle were suffering from gunshot injuries.

“We summoned EMS and EMS arrived on the scene a short time later and three of the persons in the vehicle were deceased.”

Their deaths mark the country’s eighth police-involved killing for the year, according to this newspaper’s records. In April, police shot and killed a man in Abaco who attempted to “chop” officers with a machete.

A month prior, police killed a 75- year-old man who allegedly pointed a gun at an officer while at the Fox Hill Police station.

Saturday’s killings have sparked outrage among grief stricken family members who do not believe someone in the car shot at police first.

However, Commissioner Rolle told reporters that Saturday’s shooting involved suspects who “ambushed” and “engaged” police. “If persons want to engage the members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force they need to be prepared to meet their maker. I’m not training my officers to go out there, I would like for them to return home at the end of the day when they come to work,” he said.

Earlier this year, the government signed a million-dollar contract for 400 body worn and dash cameras, which are expected to be used by police officers sometime this year.

Mr Dames previously said that with the new technology, officers will be placed under “greater scrutiny unlike ever before”, suggesting that the body cams will also seek to dispel fears that officers are abusing their rights.

Asked yesterday for an update on those body cams, the Mount Moriah MP replied: “Your answer to the body cams is they coming. “They’re coming. We have been very progressive as a government in dealing with how do we bring a greater level transparency to our law enforcement agencies because I am a firm believer that police officers is how it was supposed to be. We police by consent.

“The police officers police by consent, the consent of the people. The people must be afforded the opportunity to see how they perform and the service they deliver and that is why the government embarked upon this programme and you should see those body cams very shortly.”