Statement: Minister Dunkley On Double Murder
[Updated with audio/video] Premier Craig Cannonier, Police Commissioner Michael DeSilva, Governor George Fergusson, and Minister of Public Safety Michael Dunkley held a press conference this morning [Jan 24] to address the double murder that took place last night.
Minister Dunkley said: “In the wake of last night’s shocking double shooting and the deaths of two young men, I wish to assure the people of Bermuda that their Government is focused and determined to support all necessary action to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice.”
The 20-minute audio of the press conference held this morning is below:
At around 9pm last night, the police responded to a shooting at Belvin’s Variety Store on Happy Valley Road in Pembroke and found the two victims inside the store. The two men were rushed to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
Video of Minister’s Dunkley’s statement:
The police have not officially released the victim’s identities as of this time, but are holding a press conference later this afternoon where it is expected they will issue further information, as well as release a photo.
Minister Dunkley’s full statement follows below:
Good morning and thank you for coming.
In the wake of last night’s shocking double shooting and the deaths of two young men, I wish to assure the people of Bermuda that their Government is focused and determined to support all necessary action to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice.
As Minister for Public Safety, I have been regularly updated by the Commissioner of Police on the events of last night and the investigation that is now underway. The Premier has also been continually updated.
All available resources have been deployed to deal with this crime and investigation.
Make no mistake, this Government came to office fully aware of the importance of addressing gun violence and the issue of crime and is cognizant of the complex issues that surround crimes of violence in this community.
In the five short weeks since the Cabinet was appointed, we have started to collectively chart the way forward to address these issues from every perspective. Education, helping agencies and security services have all been engaged to provide urgent, medium and long-term solutions to what is a multi-faceted problem which manifests itself in violent sets of circumstances.
This crime has deprived two families of loved ones. This crime further shakes public confidence in the safety of our Island home. But this crime has witnesses; there are people who have information about these brutal events and this crime challenges you to come forward and make the solving of this crime a priority.
I urge those who can help the police to do so. So much good has been achieved by the efforts of ordinary citizens who have been prepared to meet violence with truth and courage. The same can be done now.
In closing, this Government promised the people of Bermuda all its efforts to renew communities and create a safer Bermuda. Let me assure you that we are working closely with Government House and the Police to make that a reality. We will not rest.
Thank you.
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Articles that link to this one:
- Two Men Shot And Killed At Happy Valley Store | Bernews.com | January 24, 2013
- To Be Released: CCTV Image From Last Night | Bernews.com | January 24, 2013
- Double Murder: Police Continue Witness Appeal | Bernews.com | January 25, 2013
This is just more talk. Truth be told, no government can get a grip on crime. People screamed the PLP didn’t do anything, but what will the OBA do differently? The one thing I do see them doing is having innocent people picked off. The Minister stated that this crime had “witnesses”. Well guess what? Next time these guys are going to ensure there are no witnesses! Unless these guys want to change, nothing will change. It’s like being in a bad marriage- you can drag your partner to marriage counseling, your priest, etc but if they don’t want to change, they won’t. Or look at people that smoke, drink or do drugs. You can show them all the photos of lung cancer, diseased livers, etc but it will not get through unless they change their mind set. We can cry on the government to get tough, ask for harsher sentences, prison overseas and all the ideas in the world, but will all that matter to a cold blooded killer?
This is all talk. Especially Cannonier’s piece all talk. Nothing is going to change. I do think highly of the OBA when it comes to business but not with crime.
Just like your talk here. why dont you do something positive for your island? why dont you become part of the solution?
First of all my condolences go out to the family’s of the victims. Now I wanna question the ability of the investigator’s of these shootings. Bermuda is a small jurisdiction, are they connecting the dots with the past shooters who have been tried and convicted. There’s gotta be a link. Some proactive measurements need to happen. Kicking down doors etc, start getting tough. These cowards are in control not the authority’s. That needs to change. You cannot rely on people coming forward.
OBA,keep trying and do not give up.
You have inherited a mess,and every right minded individual is behind you.All the best!
Inherit from who?
One of these days someone needs to explain to me why the murders of 25 young, black men isn’t worthy of a call for a Royal Commission. Could it be that black men in the care of Augustus and Amis are not as important as those who hold their heads up high in spite of your attacks? Race card deliberately played. Deal with it.
Enjoy your game of solitaire
Thank you Minister Dunkley for speaking up and others of the oba.
Some suggestions for you that may help:
1) You may have to do something with cash and the easy access anyone can use cash on the island ,you may have to make people prove they get their cash legally. Maybe a follow the money situation if you’re not getting an actual paycheck from somewhere and can’t prove it is legally obtained. ( Freeze bank accounts make it impossible for these guys to do anything.) Doing this instead of making drugs legal is a much better way of shutting down dealers and making people profit off of drugs.
2) Doors being kicked in starting from ST.geo all the way to dockyard house to house. We all know who these mama boys are who are a burden to their parents home all day smoking weed. ( Those of you saying we can’t do that because of laws. Here is a no brainer … MAYBE WE NEED TO CHANGE THOSE LAWS!)
3) Bring in more troops a task force, scotland yard whoever, people with a no nonsense mentality.
4) Declare martial law. ( We should see hundreds of troops barging into neighborhoods and dragging people away.)
5)The guns are only part of the problem, it is the mentality that we are worried about, this ghetto,thug,ignorant mentality that needs to be cleaned up asap. If you take away the guns, it will go back to machete and bats, take away the bats it will be knives and so on..
Bda will not be a safe place for tourist or locals ever again unless major changes are made.
5) Licences need to be taken away,passports, random drug tests should be increased island wide.
6) VERY IMPORTANT! There should be a way mothers/families can connect anonymously to law enforcement personel about what is going on in their homes. Many families and women especially are too afraid to call the police and tell them what is going on in their house.
(That is why people shouldn’t say it is up to the families and neighborhoods to solve this problem. They are too afraid this will take law enforcement end of story.)
7. There is a hardcore thug element out there that will never stop a nice sugar coated appraoch will not work. Pleading with people for a cease fire in a small place like Bda is not beneficial this is only a small segment of the community doing this. Bda is only 20 miles long the right task force can have this problem fixed in a few months.
8) Once the task force has done their job we need harsher penalties. Life should mean life. We dont need these guys getting out in 5 years and then we are back to the beginning again with more violence.
Respects to the family that have lost loved ones from last night.
I’m with you, these kids are way to much for the police service we have, in fact most crime is beyond these lot, they get zero respect from anyone and they have no leadership within that service so yes let’s bring someone in who can do the job, surely a UK gang squad would clear this mess up relatively quickly. We have a silent commissioner who has no balls and a bunch of cops who think the rules don’t even apply to them so replace them, get someone in here who can help surely the UK Goverment would help, and maybe the OBAMA would accept it
That’s OBA damn spellcheck!
THE OBA IS FINDING OUT WHAT THE PLP HAS ALREADY FOUND OUT…THAT SOME TRASH WILL REMAIN TRASH AND THERE IS NO NEGOTIATING WITH WILD ANIMALS, ALL THAT TALK ABOUT A SAFER BERMUDA BLAH BLAH BLAH ..HORSES..T! WE HAVE CAMERAS THAT IS STATIONED AT PAGET AND IN TOWN NOW YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THESE BIKES CANNOT BE TRACED IN NO CAMERAS WHATSOEVER??? NO BANK ATM FOOTAGE..NO SECURITY CAMERAS..NOTHING…COME ON……OBA NOW YOU SEE WHAT THE PLP WAS UP AGAINST WHEN IT COMES TO THESE FOOLS SO LETS GO AND LETS SEE WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO
Has the government heard of life in jail. Start resurrecting some new and old laws and put them to use.
Then once we get them up and started, lets do Prison swaps. Send them to the most ruthless prisons out there, cheaply funding. I heard Chechnia, Mexico or even russia.
They don’t even feed you, cloth you, or even adequate bathroom, beds or room to sleep. Taking a life is hard on a family. some of these guys need to feel the torture.
Wonders never cease!! The Governor actually participated in a press conference with a Government Minister!! This must be a first for Bermuda. And the Minister of Public Safety is assuring us that his Government is working closely with Government House to make Bermuda a safe place. Does that mean that Government House was not working with the previous government to make Bermuda a safe place? I’m just asking
Why would Government House want to work with a divisive government that continually bashes the Queen and the UK, and claim they don’t need white people to help solve black problems? Also just asking…