Moneypox & Murder; The Bahamas grappling with high crime with 74 homicides for 2022

#TheBahamas, July 6, 2022 – While The Bahamas is investigating its second case of Monkeypox, the country is suffering another crisis; the rate of killings in The Bahamas is coinciding with the record set in 2015 when approximately 146 people were murdered.

There have been 74 murders recorded from January 1 to July 3.

In just over six months, murders are up to 30 percent compared to the 57 murders recorded during the same period last year. There were 11 recorded murders in January; four in February; 22 in March (the deadliest month on record for the country); 10 in April, nine in May and 17 murders in June.

Since July, one murder has been recorded.

Authorities said the victim is in his mid-30s; he was shot and killed around 3 pm near Shirley Street last Friday. Around the same time, officers responded to reports of a shooting on Washington Street, where they found a man on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds.

The spike in murders has primarily been attributed to a continued turf war among gangs and retaliatory killings.

Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe added that almost 50 percent of the murder victims for the year were on bail for homicides. Regardless of the increase in patrols and intelligence-led operations by law enforcement agencies, the killings continue to increase.