Bahamas News
Brandon Rahming shot dead by Police in Dock Yard Operation
By Deandrea Hamilton
Editor
#TurksandCaicos, November 24, 2022 – Twenty-seven days after he was listed as a wanted man in the Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas, 32-year old Brandon Leonardo Rahming is dead. Killed by police gunfire, in one of his regular haunts; Dock Yard in Providenciales.
The police report, issued on Wednesday, was careful not to say this was a shootout. It was precise in calling the confrontation one that presented a threat to the team of law enforcers.
“We’ve had an incident in here within the last hour which resulted in what is believed to be a police involved shooting,” said Trevor Botting, TCI Police Commissioner in a video message shortly after 12 noon.
Civilians had shared, the spray of gunfire heard around 11 a.m. was rapid and pounding, that they doubted anyone would have survived it.
At the onset, residents widely believed that Rahming was dead, however, that would not be confirmed in the initial statement by Police.
“Two non-police issue firearm were recovered at the scene of the shooting.
During the same incident, another man was arrested for firearms and drug offences and he remains in police custody.”
It would be hours more before the TCI public got the confirmation on the death of the country’s most notorious suspect, a most wanted man.
Not the same in The Bahamas where Wayne Munroe, the Minister of National Security when confronted with questions about the killing confirmed to media that the person shot to death was Brandon Rahming, formerly of Freeport and Nassau, believed to be a Bahamian or of Bahamian heritage and wanted in both countries. He was speaking to the press in the early afternoon outside of the House of Assembly in Nassau.
The Bahamas also has interest in the matter. As many as 24 members of the Royal Bahamas Police are on loan to the Turks and Caicos, as part of a joint force assembled to uproot a transnational gang network.
Minutes after 7 p.m., the Royal TCI Police confirmed what most had suspected; “During this operation, a group of men, who were believed to be carrying firearms were challenged by police officers. One of the men, who I am now naming as Brandon Rahming, was shot by police officers and was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident in Dock Yard,” said Botting.
To say feelings about the death of Rahming were mournful would be a stretch. If voice notes reportedly shared by the now deceased young man were indeed from him, he painted a very dark picture of himself. Announcing that he had no regard for life, even innocents; no fear of law enforcement; no respect for the rule of law and promising more killings as his remedy to actions he believed to be hurting his alleged criminal income.
Many members of the public wanted him to be taken alive because with Rahming dies so many unanswered questions and leaves unsolved, a multi-faceted mystery including which killings he was directly responsible for, what fueled the murderous rampage that terrorized the country for nearly three months and who are his accomplices as it was clear “BrandonLee” was not acting alone.
Now, following the 11 a.m. shooting on November 23, there will be an investigation to validate the actions taken by police; already some have taken to social media to accuse law enforcement of responding in the extreme, claiming ‘Rahming was unarmed and turning himself into authorities’ when shot down.
Some, who say they have proof, claim their cell phones were confiscated by police on site.
“As is routine in these types of incidents, I will be inviting an independent review of the circumstances of the discharge of firearms by police officers during this morning’s incident from a Force within the Region. I expect this to begin in the next few days,” announced Botting.
In the aftermath, residents have expressed to our news organization that the prayer and hope now is the death of Rahming brings to an end to the violent tirade which claimed nearly two dozen lives including a boy toddler, a tourist man, several targeted citizens, an elderly father and a pregnant mother.
#TheBahamas, January 30, 2023 – The Ministry of Tourism is extremely excited to announce that visitor arrivals to The Bahamas eclipsed seven million in 2022, signaling a return to pre-pandemic tourism numbers.
In total 7,000,706 visitors came to The Bahamas in 2022.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments, and Aviation Chester Cooper praised The Bahamas’ performance and the work put in by industry professionals across the board.
“The fact that we have exceeded expectations and attracted more than 7 million visitors to our country in 2022, something only done once before in a single year was no accident,” he said.
“Countless stakeholders in the Bahamian tourism industry, including our international partners, worked tirelessly to achieve this. We sought to strengthen relationships to open new air routes. We sought to make travel to The Bahamas easier, more accessible, and affordable and took the message that we were open for business during our Missions and provided insight on our wonderful offerings to the world.”
DPM Cooper forecasted that 2023 promises to shatter even pre-pandemic numbers as interest in the Bahamas and our brand reputation have never been stronger.
“According to statistics the second half of 2022 outperformed the second half of 2019,” he said. In 2022, 1,470,244 visitors came to our shores by air; another 5,530,462 visitors arrived by sea.
Nassau and Grand Bahama remained our most popular destinations by air, while Nassau and The Berry Islands remained our most popular destinations by sea. Foreign air and sea arrivals for 2022 were up by 233 percent over the same period in 2021 and just 3.4 percent shy of record arrivals in 2019. December 2022 saw total arrivals eclipse 900,000 visitors, more than any month in our history. Cruise arrivals in 2022 increased by nearly 400 percent over 2021 and were less than 1 percent below 2019 cruise arrivals.
Air and cruise arrivals monthly from July to December 2022 surpassed the corresponding month in 2019.
Occupancy rates for 2022 eclipsed occupancy rates for every corresponding month in 2021.
The average daily room rate in 2022 outperformed that category for every corresponding month in 2021. The Bahamas carved out new ground with more than 55 percent of first-time arrivals to The Bahamas, with increases in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
DPM Cooper confirmed that the last six months are the strongest The Bahamas has ever seen. He firmly concluded by saying; “What the Ministry of Tourism, Investments, and Aviation are forecasting so far and what forward bookings indicate, is that we are on track to break records in 2023. We don’t see this slowing down anytime soon.”
Mrs. Latia Duncombe, Director General of Tourism added that everyone should understand that tourism is critical to our economy and all Bahamians, even those who do not directly work in the tourism industry, should always seek to lift the industry up.
“We are all in the tourism business in The Bahamas. And it’s a great business to be in. We want to keep our brand fresh and evergreen. And that’s everyone’s job, especially mine. I have a great, hardworking team at our ministry and we have some incredible things in store this year.”
Bahamas News
GB’s tourism numbers have returned a significant 80 percent of pre-Dorian, pre-pandemic
#TheBahamas, January 30, 2023 – “The future for tourism looks great and the future for Grand Bahama looks phenomenal,” Minister of Tourism, Aviation and Investments, Chester Cooper told Tourism partners, during a special welcome reception at the Lighthouse Pointe Resort on Friday, January 27, 2023.
having enough things to do once they disembark a cruise ship in Nassau and Grand Bahama, Minister Cooper called on tourism partners to continue to create more tours and more things for visitors to engage in once their cruise ship docks at port.
assured that the Ministry’s leadership team is committed to doing the necessary work. He pointed out that tourism’s sales leadership team that was in Grand Bahama attending the event hailed not only from Nassau, but from the United States, Canada and Europe. This, he said, is not by chance, but rather a demonstration to the Ministry’s commitment to Grand Bahama Island and improving the tourism product.
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