Mon, 2009-05-04

Around 7:45pm on Sunday, Police attended a reported disturbance in the St. David’s area. It appears that the disturbance involving a large group of men started at the junction of Southside Road, Cooper’s Island Road and Pepper Hall Road in St. George’s. As a result eight men have been arrested and three men were treated for injuries to the body including blunt force trauma and puncture wounds. These injuries appear to be non-life threatening. One of the victims is still receiving treatment at KEMH while the two other injured individuals were treated and released. There was an unconfirmed report that a firearm was used in the incident and Police are following lines of inquiry regarding this.

This incident follows a trend of gang behaviour from groups of various geographic areas where blatant disregard for law and order takes place and members of the public are put at risk. The Bermuda Police Service has been proactive in doing high visibility patrols in these areas and at the times that we believe this kind of behaviour may occur to prevent it from happening. On this occasion there was a prompt and effective Police response which prevented the behaviour from escalating further and led to a number of arrests.

A major Police investigation into this matter has commenced to identify all of the perpetrators with a view to placing them before the courts. We are seeking the assistance of the public who may have witnessed this incident to contact the Serious Crime Unit on 299-8115. We also understand that members of the public may have captured this incident on video cameras or cell phones and we are asking such persons to assist in this inquiry by providing any such copies of these videos or any other relevant footage to Police. A copy of this footage can be delivered anonymously to any Police station; or by contacting the Serious Crime Unit directly or the confidential Crime Stoppers hotline on 1-800-623-8477.

We are also asking for the understanding of the public as we utilize the provisions of Section 315F of the Criminal Code to conduct searches in specific areas where we anticipate violence or the use of bladed or pointed articles. We will use this provision more robustly so that persons who believe they can travel in these islands with these types of instruments in their possession will be aware that they are likely to be stopped and searched.

Finally, we want to reassure the public that the Bermuda Police Service continues to take these incidents of violence seriously and will continue to ensure there is a high visibility Police presence to prevent any escalation, while sending a strong message to those engaging in this behaviour that we intend to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.

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