Shooting Victims: One Stable, One Released
In addition to the fatal shooting of 47-year-old Troy “Yankee” Rawlins, this past weekend saw two other men sustain gunshot wounds.
24-year-old Prince Edness has been released from King Edward Memorial Hospital, after being shot on Friday, Aug 6th in the Elliott/Court Street area. This was the second time Mr. Edness was shot, with the first time being two years ago, also in August, only a few yards away from where he was shot this year.
21-year-old Julian Washington, who was shot on Monday, August 9th at the Mid-Atlantic Boat Club on North Shore Road in Devonshire, is presently in stable condition on a general ward.
All three shootings this past weekend are alleged to be gang related.
This is great news. They have some running and the stable doors are open.
Tomorrow there will be an open house on Court Street. The Premier will be there to present medals for the auditions already performed of the up and comming “Stayin Alive” festivel in early September.
I feel sorry for the people that have lived there all these years. Been through so much and yet maintain their courage in these days of instability and mayhe.
Terry,
You have an opinion, but if it is sarcastic, just keep it to yourself. Yes, we Bermudians have maintained our courage, but these are also our brothers and sisters out there who are doing this foolishness. We need to somehow reach them. Not speak down to them and tell them they are not wanted. That is most likely the reason why some of them are doing these things.
They feel oppressed, neglected, and unloved. Im not saying they need hugs. Im just saying they do NOT need to hear your sarcasm. Especially since you most likely arent even BERMUDIAN. And we dont want your sympathy. Just do your job and keep it moving.
Ok…so I’ve been following the news…and I have to agree, this does have to be sorted from WITHIN. There are a few questions that should be logically asked. First off, it’s all in the numbers. Has anyone really looked at the numbers?
If there have been so many shootings going on, why haven’t the police done a trend analysis?
This sounds like a classic case of trying to bring down a country’s value and raise hell.
There are many possibilities here, two being the most obvious: this is either political, or commercial.
Let’s start with political. When certain people of political power want to gain something, not necessarily money – the easiest things to turn to are ‘gang wars.’ Politically, the easiest way to take a country’s government under control is to point out its weak points among the citizens of that country. Hence if there is chaos and disarray among the people, this weak point can be drawn on and make it possible to demonstrate that the country itself is not being governed properly/has no sound government.
The next one is commercial. Commercial being big business owners. Now let’s think, if you’re a business owner, what do you look for? Minimum costs, maximum profit. What’s the real business that makes the most money? Real estate. Sure, you can have a business as in a shop or restaraunt, but the one’s who really profit are the ones that have a hold on real estate. The easiest way to bring down property value is again, ‘gang wars’ or ‘drug related conflicts.’ That’s the first thing the police pin it too. Mind you I’m not at all speaking against the police of Bermuda.
When a gang war – or to put it bluntly shootings break out in ANY designated area of a country, especially an island, the value of the property it was initiated on immediately drops, and with enough crime and frequent violence, continues to drop. Why? People fear for their lives, word spreads, and it makes your regular or ‘consumer’ market hesitant to purchase and/or rent in the designated area. This also affects tourism. So it’s simple, violence rises, prices fall, and big incorporations come in and treat themselves to a bargain basement sale. Only thing is the sale was made off bloodshed.
This brings me to another point. Gang wars. First off, what do you think they really involve? These gunmen we Bermudians see running around shooting up people aren’t masterminds. They aren’t geniuses. They’re mere pawns to a much larger plan…and every pawn has a king and/or queen that it takes orders from.
Let’s look at the way the shootings have happened over the past few years. Let’s look at the times, locations, age groups, and even genders.
We have people from their teens to 40+ being targeted. People of both genders, male and female, being shot…and the locations? It’s gradually building to every parish in the island. The times are the most interesting to observe. Shootings are happening, in two places at one time.
In 2009 there were approximately 17 people shot, and 4 murdered. Averaged, that’s approximately one person every month shot, and another person every 6 months shot, with one person killed every 3 months in respective order.
Or for another example, take the recent incident that happened on the 9th of August 2010, a 47 y/o man shot and killed at the spinning wheel on court street and another 21 y/o man shot at the mid-atlantic boat club. Both happened on the same night. The time lapse? Just 30 minutes.
Since the beginning of 2010, seven people have been murdered, which averages to be about one person every month. This is a drastic increase in successful attempts compared to last year.
You really think gunmen are that smart? I beg to differ.
These aren’t gang war mishaps, these are executions.
Now I’m sure there are more attempted murders involving guns, which is another key point. If so many people are being shot, why aren’t any trends being analyzed?
The main things that should normally be questioned are what kind of bullets were used, what kind of bullets match what guns, the pattern or style of how the person is shot, and the average amount of shots fired at the person.
If we look at the bullets that were used, it would lead us to what kind of guns the bullets can be used with, hence bringing a category of guns together, by type, caliber, and make. Taking into account the way the person is shot, by looking at how many bullets were fired, will create a pattern or style. Every marksman has his own style.
If a bunch of random people are being hired/paid to make it look like ‘gang wars’ the patterns will be random, different. If a set few people are being hired/paid, a pattern is bound to appear at some point. The thing we have to ask is what’s the average amount of shooters pinned to each person? How many were seen with guns at the time of assault? And how many shots fired?
This is just a small spectrum of the situation. Let’s move from pawns to the bigger pieces, rooks, knights, and bishops.
Once we find out what kind of guns are being used, we should look at what country they’re from. Mind you, the country they’re made in could throw off the scent of the real perpetrator, in that they could be made in that country but bought and supplied from one of another country. You also have to think how many guns of that make are in each country.
How could the guns be brought in? We all know gun smuggling is a difficult thing to do in Bermuda. The easiest way guns can be brought in without scrutiny is via the means of military, police, or any other enforcment category. There’s also the possiblity of gun clubs. We know military doesn’t really exist Bermuda. I am by no means pointing fingers at any one designated area, it’s just that every angle of this must be looked at to exhaust every possibility of finding the root of the cause.
Guns can be brought in even through the power of politics. Exploited time windows, officials turning their heads and looking the other way/bribery, even business cartel agreements, are all possiblities of how this could be happening.
My theory in short and simple terms? Come on people, we’ve all seen this happen with other countries. Gunmen are hired, a few police with lined pockets turn their heads, holes in government, political influence that bore holes in the gorvernment, and one big financial backer of the entire thing.
The gunmen are pawns, policemen knights, government officials bishops, politicians rooks, and the main man the king/queen.
This is just a typical layout of what happens, and is most frequently blamed on ‘gang wars’. Bottom line is, we all know Bermuda has had gangs for years, but for years we have never seen guns suddenly spring up and every man woman and child end up being shot. We need to look more closely at the numbers, more closely at the finer details, and less at the well known ‘gang war’ theory.
What I ask of fellow Bermudians, is to look at everyone and everything. Do not become paranoid, but instead observant. Do not turn on eachother, for if this really is what I’m thinking it is, then you’ve already fallen into the trap.
Always remember, in the words of W. Durant, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”
Bermuda is indeed a great civilization.