One man is dead and another injured after a late-night assault in the parking lot of the Octopus nightclub on West Bay Road.
Police responded at 1.30am Saturday to an anonymous 9-11 call about rival groups spilling from the club into the parking lot.
‘It was a huge fight between two groups of people, at least five guys on each side,’ said Detective Inspector Kurt Walton, in charge of the ongoing investigation.
Preston McLean, 31, of Shedden Road, George Town, was hit on the head with a long object and stabbed at least three times. Mr. Walton said, although the immediate cause of death remains undetermined.
An autopsy will be conducted later in the week.
Mr. Walton said the altercation started when someone inside the club spilled a beer.
‘It was ridiculous, but it was 1.30 in the morning on Saturday and this is how people can behave sometimes,’ he said.
Another man was also stabbed in the leg during the incident
Mr. Walton said two men had been arrested, a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old, and that more arrests were expected.
‘We’re not saying anything as to any charges because we’re still going through the investigative process,’ he said.
‘We’ve already spoken to most of those involved. More arrests are likely to come.’
Almost all the participants appeared to be between the ages of 19 and 22.
‘On the face of it, this doesn’t look like typical gang-related stuff, but was just a spontaneous reaction,’ Mr Walton said.
‘Everyone was gathering outside. The assailant ran off, and the whole group just kind of dispersed,’ he said.
Liquor Licensing Inspector Donald Green said the incident could mean the loss of the Octopus licence.
He said the owners had been warned only last week about security and how to handle altercations.
‘When things happen inside [a premise], we want to make sure owners behave in a responsible manner, that they do everything they can and don’t do anything they shouldn’t,’ he said.
A fundamental rule, he said, is if an incident occurs, one party be ejected from the premise, but the other remain inside.
‘Otherwise, it just moves the incident to another location. Running a licensed premise is a privilege. You can’t just say go out into the parking lot and kill yourselves.’
He said the board would investigate the incident based on the police report before making any decisions.
Club proprietor Joel Francis declined to comment, saying the incident was under investigation and referring enquiries to attorney Lloyd Sampson.
‘The police are investigating and we are not in a position to say anything at this juncture,’ Mr Sampson said, ‘but we take every precaution to ensure the safety of our patrons, which was exactly what we did in this case.’
He said Octopus owners had not heard from the Liquor Licensing Board, but said the parking lot where the killing took place was across the road from the club.
‘If anyone is under any other impression, it is erroneous,’ he said.
Mr. McLean is survived by his mother, father, several siblings and a 10-year-old son.
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