POLICE fatally shot a man who killed another man with an axe in the street last night.
The incident took place before 7 o’clock last night in the Mount Royal Avenue area.
Police press liaison officer, Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told reporters that police were alerted to an argument at Kenilworth Street between two men which resulted in one man being chopped in his upper body.
She said responding officers found the victim lying in the street and saw a man armed with an axe standing over him, “attempting to chop him a second time”.
“Hence he was fatally shot,” CSP Skippings said.
Both victims’ bodies were removed from the scene last night.
She appealed to residents of the country to learn how to resolve conflicts without violence. She urged people to stop and think before acting and advised those in tense situations to reach out to someone for help to resolve issues.
One victim in yesterday’s incident is said to be in his 20s while the other is said to be in his 40s.
CSP Skippings did not know the relationship between the two men, but said it is believed one victim is a resident of the area where the incident took place.
This comes after two men were fatally shot by police in separate incidents last month.
On September 26, police said they shot a wanted suspect dead in Gamble Heights after he allegedly pulled a gun on officers.
Police said they recovered a handgun and ammunition from the deceased.
A few days before that incident, police said a teen allegedly involved in an armed robbery was fatally shot after pulling a gun on officers.
According to initial reports, police officers attached to Operation Ceasefire responded to a call about an armed robbery in the area of Robinson Road.
As officers neared Miami Street off Robinson Road, they spotted the vehicle allegedly involved in the armed robbery. Two men were inside. After attempting to stop the vehicle, the driver sped off toward Washington Street, near Cordeaux Avenue. There, police shot and wounded one of the men after he got out of the vehicle, produced a firearm and “engaged the officers,” said police.
Shortly after the shooting, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrived and confirmed the man, said to be in his late teens, had died.
Police said they recovered a firearm with ammunition from the body.
In August, Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander said officers have “the right to do what they have to do” when confronted with armed people who put their lives in danger.
He added that the police are not “in the business” of letting off “warning shots” in these situations.
That same month, police said a man was shot and killed when he produced a handgun and engaged the officers. At the time, police said officers from Operation Ceasefire responded to information about people with illegal handguns on a property on Miami Street, between Cordeaux and Balfour Avenues. A man was found on the property and shot by a police officer when he produced a handgun and engaged officers on the scene, police said.
In April, a man wearing a bulletproof vest was shot by police when they responded to an armed robbery after 1am in the area of Delancey Street.
In January, a police officer shot and killed a Royal Bahamas Defence Force officer who allegedly “charged” at him and tried to disarm him.
Last year, 21 police-involved shootings were recorded, of which 13 were fatal.
CSP Skippings said His Majesty’s coroner is investigating this latest incident.
