Acting Commissioner Mike Jackman - Victims: James LAWES (Murder), Maurice MARTIN & Robin STOVELL (Attempted Murder).

The Bermuda Police Service regrets to inform the public that Mr. James LAWES, one of the victims from the shooting of three persons on Dundonald Street on Friday night succumbed to his injuries overnight. We extend our condolences to his family and friends.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Wright will speak later about the circumstances surrounding this death and the investigation.

We in the Bermuda Police Service are very concerned about the escalation in firearms related incidents. This is the second death for the year as a result of the use of a firearm. Since the beginning of the year, there have been two (2) people fatally shot and seven (7) people injured. There are 38 firearms incidents reported to date for the year and this compares with 92 in total for 2009.

The Bermuda Police Service wishes to reassure the community that we are working diligently to ensure that our Service is equipped to handle this new level of firearms incidents. We have identified a spectrum of things that have to be done to ensure we are capable and have the capacity to address these incidents. These include but are not limited to the following:

• Working with the Minister and Government on a range of initiatives which include

o       Additional resources such as investigators and crime analyst

o       New legislation

o       Additional funding to support firearms related incidents

Deploy additional officers to ensure proactive targeting of those involved in firearms crimes and to use an intelligence led deployment

• Increase the number of officers authorized to carry firearms

o       The Commissioner is currently overseas recruiting qualified Authorised Firearm Officers to boost our local officers

o       We are running training courses to boost the number of available officers

• Increase our ability to secure and manage information and intelligence

• Identifying what works in other jurisdictions so that we are adopting best practices

o       We are liaising with FBI and other US law enforcement agencies

o       The Commissioner will be visiting West Midland Police in UK to look at how they are dealing with gang violence in Birmingham

o       We have met with and discussed initiatives being undertaken in islands in the Caribbean

However, our efforts will be futile if we do not have the full support of the public. Firearms related incidents are not going away and the Bermuda Public must not accept that this negative behavior is the norm as the Bermuda Police Service certainly has not. Law abiding citizens cannot be held to ransom by a few. The Public must get involved. We reassure you that your information will be treated with the strictest of confidentiality as the information you provide is valuable to us in stopping this violence.

We recognize that the only way we can reduce firearms incidents is to be proactive and to stop the criminals before they even contemplate such acts. However, to do this, we need the support of the Public. We are urging and encouraging you to use the mechanisms available such as Crime Stoppers to get this valuable information to the police. We will act on it with haste and we will treat it in confidence; that is my assurance. The Crime Stoppers Bermuda hotline is 800-8477.

The Bermuda Police Service remains committed, and will be working tirelessly to bring those involved in serious criminal behaviour to justice; we know we can do this with the support of the citizens and residents of these islands.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Paul M. Wright

Detective Chief Inspector Nicholas Pedro (Serious Crime Division)

Shortly before 11 p.m. on Friday 19th March, 2010, two persons on a motorcycle were seen to ride along Court Street on the sidewalk as they approached the Jamaican Grill restaurant. There they appeared to encounter a man in the said car park who ran from the location on seeing these two persons on the motorcycle.

The riders of the cycle then rode across Court Street at speed, where they entered the car park on Dundonald Street adjacent to Places Place. There, they again rode on the sidewalk towards a group of men who had congregated between Places Place and a barber shop.

The pillion passenger of the cycle was seen to get off the cycle and began shooting at the group of men. The passenger then mounted the cycle again and they rode down towards Court Street where they turned right (north) and travelled at speed.

Three men were injured when 11 rounds were discharged. While we do not yet know the motive for the attack it appears from the actions of the gunman that he was targeting one or more of the victims who were all in close proximity to each other rather than indiscriminately firing into a larger group of people. In addition to Mr. LAWES being shot, Mr. Maurice MARTIN and Mr. Robin STOVELL were also injured. Both men remain in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital receiving treatment for their injuries. All available resources are being utilized to work to bring the offenders to justice.

[The officer in charge of the Serious Crime Unit, Detective Chief Inspector Nicholas Pedro conducted a walk-through of the crime scene, emphasizing the importance of public cooperation to bring these offenders to justice.]

Again, it cannot be emphasized enough – there were a lot of people in this vicinity on Friday night, and people will have seen the gunman and his accomplice or have other information that can assist in bringing these persons to justice.

This marks the second murder of 2010 and the sixth shooting murder since May 2009. The Serious Crime Unit is working on bringing these offenders to justice.

From our inquiries we are aware that there were a lot of people in the area at the time of the shooting. We are urging those persons to come forward voluntarily rather than waiting for the police to trace them.

The Bermuda Police Service remains committed, and will be working tirelessly to bring these and other offenders to justice.