On the heels of Barbados’ 20th murder for 2019 this afternoon, Attorney General Dale Marshall and Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith are once again assuring Barbadians that all steps are being taken to arrest the ugly spike in gun violence.
Following a briefing at Parliament this afternoon, shortly after a man was fatally shot in the food court at Sheraton Mall, Christ Church around 1:50 p.m., the AG and Commissioner Griffith sought to reassure the public that police were doing all they can to bring the situation under control.
Attorney General Dale Marshall and Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith during today’s briefing.
“We have a plan and we are sticking to our plan. We know that we will get the results that we want. Many of these shooting incidents are reprisals and based on that it is kind of difficult because the co-operation is not really there from individuals who from time to time are being attacked.
“However, we will make sure that we do all in our power to wrestle this ugly situation to the ground. We intend to find these perpetrators and bring them before the court in a short space of time,” Griffith said.
The Commissioner extended condolences the family of the man who was killed today. He said the deceased was being sought by police for some time in connection with other serious matters.
According to the top cop, his officers were looking for a suspect in connection with today’s shooting. Shortly after Griffith made this announcement, police reportedly had two persons of interest, a man and woman, assisting with the investigations.
“We have a suspect related to the matter in custody who was the driver of the vehicle that the suspect was in. And we are assiduously pursuing the investigations. So I just want to assure the public that they can rest assured that we are going to get the perpetrators and we are going to arrest this ugly state of affairs,” he updated.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General added that the suspect who was being pursued was on bail for murder charge, and was suspected to be involved in yet another murder.
“So if the evidence holds true, then you can see the nature of what we are talking about,” Marshall said.
“And that has been what we have been seeing in most of these shooting incidents. The perpetrators and the victims are all persons who are on bail for very serious crimes,” Commissioner Griffith explained.
The Attorney General thanked the members of the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) for the work they have been doing to arrest the crime situation.
He explained that senior officers have been making sacrifices, including not travelling overseas to attend law enforcement conferences.
“They recognize more than anybody else that there is a whole country at stake. So they have given up opportunities themselves, to be able to stay on the ground and deal with this situation. I would like to repeat the Commissioner’s assurance, we are on the job and we will get this done,” Marshall said.
