Police were kept busy over the Christmas holiday weekend investigating a home invasion, a shooting in which two minors were wounded, and the circumstances surrounding three traffic-related deaths.
Police reported that shortly after 12 o’clock Saturday morning two masked men forced their way into a Marlin Drive residence by kicking in the door.
According to Inspector Evans, the bandits then tied up the occupants of the house, searched the premises and stole cash and personal items.
They also demanded the keys for a 1996 Nissan Bluebird and made their escape in that vehicle, he said.
Chief Superintendent Basil Rahming of the Grand Bahama District reported that the first traffic accident occurred around 5:28pm Friday in Abaco when Edith Armbrister, the 25-year-old driver of an Isuzu Rodeo, lost control of that vehicle. The SUV subsequently veered off the road into bushes and overturned several times, said Mr. Rahming.
Two of the vehicle’s four passengers – 19-year-old Maxine Swain and 19-year-old Shantell Reckley – sustained traumatic injuries in the mishap and died at the scene of the accident, police said.
Alicia Albury, aged four years, and Jessica Major, aged three years, along with the driver reportedly sustained serious injuries and were airlifted to New Providence and transported to the Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment.
Police said excessive speed appeared to have been a major factor in the cause of the accident which pushed the number of traffic fatalities on Abaco for the year to four.
The following day the country recorded another traffic-related fatality when a Canadian tourist visiting Alligator Bay – which is located just south of Simms, Long Island – was involved in a deadly collision with a 2004 model Mitsubishi vehicle.
The 24-year-old male was operating a self-drive motorcycle along with a 46-year-old female resident of Grays, Long Island when the mishap occurred.
Inspector Walter Evans said the visitor was gravely injured as a result of the collision and later succumbed to those injuries.
The female passenger sustained multiple injuries and was airlifted to New Providence for treatment.
In crime-related matters, police reported that gunshots were heard in the Palm Beach Street area of New Providence around 4am Saturday.
Two minors who were asleep in a house sustained gunshot wounds in that incident, Mr. Evans said, with one of the victims – a young girl – being shot in the right leg.
The other shooting victim, a young male, was struck in his left leg, police said.
Police officials said a motive had not been determined for the shooting.
Police said investigations into all the matters were ongoing.
By: Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
