Killing spree heads to East End

A 21-year-old male was found dead in the street in East End early Thursday morning, the fifth shooting death in Grand Cayman in the past nine days. 

Police officers on routine patrol discovered the body of Asher William McGaw of East End on John McLean Drive near the East End Primary School at about 3am, according to Royal Cayman Islands Police Service officials.  

Officers said Mr. McGaw had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was lying motionless when they came upon him. They checked for vital signs, but found none. An ambulance was called to the scene and Mr. McGaw was pronounced dead. 

Police would not say if there were any witnesses to the shooting. They also declined to say whether this incident was related to the recent spate of gang-style killings in West Bay and George Town. No arrests had been reported by press time Thursday. 

The shooting death reported Thursday was the fifth to rock the British Overseas Territory since 13 September. Three men were shot and killed in separate attacks in West Bay between Tuesday and Saturday last week, and a fourth man was killed and one wounded in a shooting in George Town on Monday night. 

Cayman Islands Governor Duncan Taylor said Thursday he has requested assistance from the United Kingdom and hopes a temporary boost in officers will supplement an island law enforcement agency down-sized due to recent budget cuts. Mr. Taylor also said he would initiate a curfew if requested by RCIPS Police Commissioner David Baines, but the governor said authorities had not reached that point. Mr. McGaw had served 15 months in Her Majesty’s Prison at Northward for burglary, handling stolen goods and consumption of ganja. He was released in April 2010. Family members said Thursday that Mr. McGaw had left a bar in the early hours that morning and was killed only yards from his home in East End. Relatives said Mr. McGaw had not had any trouble with anyone before he left the establishment and they did not know what occurred afterward. 

“East End is too early to say,” Mr. Baines said during a Thursday morning television interview on Cayman 27. “I can say the individual was known to us as part of a gang. But we don’t know at this stage whether it is an extension of this feud that we’re seeing. It’s probably not wise to say too much more about the East End shooting too soon.” 

Beginning with the 13 September killing of Robert Macford Bush, 28, on Captains Joe and Osbert Road, three men have been shot and killed in West Bay, in what police have labelled “tit-for-tat” gang-related killings. Two days later, on Thursday night, Andrew Anthony Baptist, 24, was shot in the back of the head in a yard on Sand Hole Road. On Saturday night, Preston Rivers, 18, was killed in the vicinity of Thatch Palm Villas on Andresen Road, also in West Bay. 

The violence moved to the capital of George Town on Monday night when Jason Christian, 18, was gunned down near Crewe Road, and Keith Montique, 22, was seriously injured. Mr. Montique has since been flown off island to seek medical treatment for his gunshot wounds.  

Last year, the Cayman Islands suffered through a similar rash of gang-related shootings, which saw five males shot and killed in West Bay, including an innocent 4-year-old boy. 

“It’s been just short of a year of relative calm,” Mr. Baines said. “You’ll remember going back to 2009, seven murders and then seven murders again. What we’ve got is a condensed period that is probably brought about because tensions have suddenly heightened. A lot of things have caused that tension heightening. It may have been some of the acquittals. Those acquittals have done two things. They have left one side feeling betrayed or angry at the lack of people being held to account. It’s also possibly released some of those who may have been involved in that violence to begin with.”  

Police spent much of Thursday morning combing the scene near East End Primary School where Mr. McGaw was killed. Authorities cordoned off a wide section of John McLean Drive across from the East End Health Clinic where crime scene investigators spent hours processing evidence and taking photographs. Due to the shooting, the East End Health Clinic closed for the day.  

Mr. McGaw’s parents, Archibold and Reva Rankine-McGaw, were among those at the scene following the shooting.  

Pearlina McGaw said her family learned her nephew was lying in the street in East End at about 3.30am on Thursday. Ms McGaw said early Thursday morning the family hadn’t spoken to authorities yet, but relatives had departed their South Sound homes for East End. 

Authorities have said the upsurge in recent shootings has its roots in a long-standing feud between the rival Logwoods and Birch Tree Hill gangs of West Bay. Police say it is possible with increased policing in West Bay, criminal activity has been flushed elsewhere. 

However, following up on crimes with the cooperation of the public remains a distinct concern. “We’ve always on these islands suffered the problem of people saying, ‘I’ll tell you, but I won’t give evidence,” Mr. Baines said. “That’s exactly what’s happening now. People will give us information, but refuse to give any evidence that we can in turn to legal. Everybody in the community knows who has done the shooting, but they actually tolerate it, condone it and do nothing to take them off the streets. Knowing who’s done it, and proving who’s done it are two very different things.” 

In recent days there have been increasingly impatient calls from the public on radio talk shows and Internet message boards for authorities to address the surge in gun-related killings. Some have suggested the government institute a curfew. Others have requested the RCIPS seek outside assistance from police agencies in other jurisdictions.  

Mr. Baines said authorities have been increasing their presence in West Bay to try to get between rival gang factions. He also said they have been “sweeping up” gang members by using any applicable laws. 

“We’ve got the skill sets to deal with the issues that we are facing,” Mr. Baines said. “We are stretched with numbers because we’ve had a depletion of staff. To get immediate support I’ve approached the UK with a request (it) send us two full investigation teams and senior investigating officers to complement our detective skill set at the minute. We’ve been filling the numbers and the duty requirements by actually cancelling rest days and extending our shifts. So our officers, in the short term, can provide that presence. But we can’t do that for the long term.” 

Among higher levels of government, legislators have supported rolling back budget cuts to the police department that were made during the financial crunch of recent years. The recruitment of additional officers has begun in earnest to add officers to bolster RCIPS capacity. In the same television interview, Governor Taylor said it may be premature for authorities to implement a curfew. Mr. Taylor also cautioned that a curfew might possibly hamper police efforts.  

“We’re looking at bringing out, as we did last year, a team of perhaps 15 or 16 officers from the UK in the short term to supplement and support the RCIPS teams that are working at the moment,” Mr. Taylor said. “I think you will imagine that RCIPS are very severely stretched here. They’ve done an amazing job so far in actually trying to get on the streets. But it’s very challenging when people are carrying on these murders. 

“With regard to the curfew or a cordon, I look to the commissioner,” Mr. Taylor said. “The commissioner is the operational expert that we have here in the Cayman Islands.  

“If the commissioner comes to me and says ‘it is going to assist me to have a curfew,’ over the whole island or part of it, or even one street, then of course I wouldn’t hesitate to sign the order. But I know from talking to the commissioner every day it is not as straightforward as it might appear,” Mr. Taylor said. “It may be that a curfew reduces his abilities because he has to patrol and police that curfew and that can distract resources which might be more helpfully targeted looking for a small number of the gang members who we believe are the ones who are behind the crime that is going on at the moment.”