By EARYEL BOWLEG 

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

OFFICERS shot and killed a man in Sea Breeze Estates who allegedly pointed a gun at them Tuesday afternoon, the third fatal police-involved shooting in a little over a week. 

Police did not release his identity, however Superintendent Shanta Knowles said the man was known to police and was being electronically monitored. Family members on the scene identified the deceased as Steve Voltaire. Voltaire was arraigned on a murder charge in February 2018.

At the scene, Supt Knowles told reporters that the incident took place shortly after 1pm when Mobile Division officers were patrolling the Sea Breeze community and noticed a male on a moped. 

“When the male recognised the officers, he attempted to conceal something into his waistband,” Supt Knowles said. “The officers continued to watch him, at that time they realised that the man was in possession of a firearm. He pointed the weapon at the officers who in turn drew their service weapon and fired into the direction of the man fatally wounding him.”

Supt Knowles said a weapon was recovered from the scene. 

Three suspects have been shot dead by police in a little over a week. On Monday February 24, police said they received intelligence that a robbery was going to occur at Royal Bank of Canada on Mackey Street. Police went to the scene and saw a car which fit the description of their intelligence. Police said one of the men fired at police, prompting officers to return fire, which resulted in officers fatally shooting one suspect and wounding another.

On Saturday, police officers shot and killed a man around 11pm while on routine patrol on Washington Street. Police said in that incident, a man emerged from a car police had stopped and pointed a weapon in officers’ direction, prompting police to open fire. Police said a 9mm pistol was recovered from that scene. 

On Tuesday, Voltaire’s loves ones questioned the use of fatal force, but Supt Knowles defended the actions of the officers.

She said: “We know that our officers are well trained. They act in a professional matter. We know that they are committed to protect the good people of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and they will not back down from that.

“So we want to tell those in the community that we will continue to protect the people of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Of course there will be people who oppose what we do but we will not let that cause us to lose focus. We will continue to serve the people of the Bahamas to the best of our abilities.

“We appreciate that the officers were brave enough to respond and has responded to what could’ve been worse than what we have here today.”

The coroner will continue investigations into this incident.