It is with deep sadness and concern that the Free National Movement notes the death of two people and two others being shot on New Providence yesterday. One of the deceased victims was a four-year-old child.
This should cause an uproar in every Bahamian soul. Tragically, this was not the first child killed by gun violence this year. Just last month, 13-year-old Quentin McKenzie was killed in the Kemp Road area. These stories often prompt national outrage for a time, but once the headlines disappear, the urgency of the matter seems to as well.
As a nation, we simply cannot appear to countenance the death of innocent children by lawless individuals who think it is their right to engage in armed combat in our streets, and innocent lives be damned. We must arrest this pace of killing and it will take all our collective efforts to do it.
We have a new Commissioner of Police who has announced his intended plan of action in brief detail. We would like to assist and we would like to be confident that the plan is meticulous and resourced.
The leadership of the party has publicly asked for a meeting with the Commissioner of Police to better understand the strategy. In the meantime, we will continue to call for this record pace of killings to be addressed as the national emergency as it is, whilst doing our part.
We send our condolences to the families of the victims and pray God’s mercies on their soul.
