By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

AN off-duty police officer shot and killed a man who allegedly attacked him with a baseball bat in a parking lot on Friday night, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.

The incident took place after 10pm at a plaza on East Street South opposite Cox Way.

Initial reports from police said the off-duty officer was patronising an establishment in the plaza when he became an eyewitness to an ongoing altercation in the parking lot.

The officer made an attempt to speak to the individual who was involved, police said, but the man then left and later returned with a baseball bat and struck the officer on his head and face several times.

The officer, who was armed with his service pistol, fired several shots at his assailant, fatally wounding him. Emergency Medical Services were called in and they pronounced the man dead.

The officer was transported to the hospital where he is in stable condition. The coroner visited the scene and was appraised of the initial facts, police said.

Contacted on Sunday for more information on the matter, police press liaison, ASP Audley Peters, said the officer was only trying to keep the peace.

“He was not the initial person involved in the altercation,” ASP Peters said. “He was attempting to quell the argument. The person left and came back and attacked him with a baseball bat. The officer then got his pistol and shot him.”

Asked for the official ID for both the officer involved and the deceased, ASP Peters declined.

“We have not officially identified the deceased as yet and no, I cannot give you the officer’s name. He is in serious, but stable condition,” he said.

Relatives say the deceased is 28-year-old Nawal Mackey Sr. His mother, Iris Murphy of Andros, and girlfriend are now left with unanswered questions after the incident and do not believe the police’s version of the events.

“Honestly I am lost for words,” Ms Murphy told The Tribune. “The way I understand that it happened is that they shot my son like a dog. Even a dog had a better chance than him.

“I understand they shot him twice. He fell to the ground and they shot him again,” she alleged.

“Now (for them) to turn around. . .and say he attacked them. . .This brings the pain that Mary had when she saw Jesus killed. . .I would like closure on this, but the pain is piercing my heart. It is not easy. That was my only child. I pray the truth is found.”

Mackey was an employee of Apex Paving Company for the past five years. His mother and girlfriend Shaneeka Miller said they can get no answers from police as everything is on hold, even his car has been impounded.

Ms Miller, the mother of Mackey’s son Nawal Mackey Jr, is distraught that her young child now has no father. She said someone who was present when the incident occurred gave her a different version of the events than what police reported.

“Someone who was there said this happened in the place where they were playing pool, not in the parking lot,” Ms Miller alleged. “He was not arguing with anyone else. He was arguing with the officer that shot him. I was told things got heated and the officer ran outside with his girl and people went outside behind them. Seems like some kind of fighting went on out there and another officer who was there fired a warning shot so they could stop.”

She said she was told while her boyfriend did have a bat, he “started to run away from them” when he “saw the gun”.

“. . . He was then shot by the officer. He fell to the ground and then he was shot again. That is what was told to us by someone who was there,” she alleged.

During the interview, a small voice in the background asked to speak to this writer. It was Mackey’s six-year-old son.

“I miss my daddy. I want to see him. I want to speak to him. That’s my only daddy,” said Nawal Jr as he started to cry.

Ms Murphy is set to come to Nassau today hopefully to identify the body of her son, secure his belongings and make arrangements for his remains.

The incident will head to Coroner’s Court for a hearing.