A DOUBLE shooting outside a church left one man dead and another in hospital on Saturday, while a separate shooting left another man in critical condition in hospital.

The killing brought the murder rate for the year to 99.

The fatal shooting occurred at about 4.15pm after gunshots were fired on West End Avenue.

Police arrived at the scene to find two men, believed to be in their 20s, suffering from gunshot injuries. One died at the scene, while the other was taken to hospital.

Officers said the victims, along with a group of others, were standing in the church parking lot when two men got out of a dark Japanese vehicle and opened fire, hitting both men multiple times.

Superintendent Terrico Sweeting said police were alerted to the shooting by Shotspotter technology.

He noted that the Japanese vehicle travelled through West End Avenue before turning around and approaching the scene of the shooting.

Supt Sweeting said neither victim was known to police, adding that several security cameras are in the area and that the police are “relying heavily” on camera footage for the investigation.

He urged people to “be more vigilant and be more careful.”

He said: “How many bodies do we have to pick up as police officers each and every day? Is it just our problem as an organisation, the Royal Bahamas Police Force? Or is it the whole society’s problem? We need to think introspectively, as The Bahamas, as the Bahamian people. We always say one nation, one people under God. Let’s be a true nation and one people under God, with a true focus.”

Earlier that day, at about noon, a man was sitting in a vehicle on Willow Tree Street in Pinewood Gardens when two people got out of a dark Japanese vehicle and fired at him, hitting him in his upper and lower body.

The 25-year-old victim was taken to hospital by private vehicle, where he was said to be in critical condition.