Police link Sunday shootings to nightclub melee, gang reprisal

A spate of gun violence that left one man dead and another injured, and caused extensive property damage in two St Michael communities on Sunday was sparked by a dispute over an illegal firearm at a St Lawrence Gap nightclub the night before, Police Commissioner Richard Boyce has revealed.

Boyce, flanked by members of the police high command and the Barbados Defence Force Chief of Staff Brigadier Carlos Lovell at a press conference on Monday, outlined to reporters the series of events that led to the attacks by four men on two motorcycles, who rode through Nelson Street and Cave Hill and discharged high-powered weapons.

Commissioner Boyce explained that preliminary investigations revealed a “criminal chain of events” that began on Saturday at the nightclub.

He said: “A patron, in an effort to bypass mandatory security checks, handed an illegal firearm to a co-host of that event — an individual not subject to search — to keep in his possession. That co-host, in turn, transferred the firearm to another individual. When the patron attempted to retrieve the weapon, he was informed that it had already been handed over to someone else.

“Enraged by this, the firearm owner, along with others, went to the residence of the event co-host and opened fire on his residence in the early hours of Sunday morning.”

He said that subsequently, the firearm owner, supported by a group of friends believed to be members of a gang, initiated a series of retaliatory attacks, targeting rival members known to frequent the Nelson Street and Cave Hill areas.

The police chief suggested that these were deliberate and coordinated acts of violence, rooted in gang warfare.

“The unfolding events of the past two days should leave no doubt as to the gravity of the threat we now face. We are dealing with armed gangs warring against each other in public spaces, placing innocent lives at risk,” he said. “This must strengthen our collective resolve — the collective resolve of all law-abiding citizens — to support law enforcement in our national effort to uproot these criminal elements.” 

(EJ)