A series of five deadly gang-related shootings within nine days of one another in September 2011 rocked the relative peace that had enveloped Grand Cayman for one year.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service made no secret of the fact that most of the shootings were connected to a long-running feud between rival factions where gang members were shooting each other over often minor disputes.
Two of the young men gunned down on Grand Cayman in mid-September were caught up in a dispute between certain residents of two West Bay neighbourhoods. Robert Macford Bush died on 13 September, gunned down inside a car; and two days later Andrew Anthony Baptist was shot to death.
On Saturday, 17 September, a third victim – Preston Rivers, 18 – was shot to death in West Bay.
Police indicated the shooting deaths of Mr. Baptist, 24, and Mr. Bush, 28, were directly linked because Baptist’s name came up during investigations into Bush’s killing.
“Our worst fears have been realised,” said RCIPS Chief Superintendent John Jones, commenting on the resumption of the gang shootings.
“We have strong grounds to believe both of these murders are gang-related and relate to a resumption of a feud between factions or gangs … from the Logwoods area and the Birch Tree Hill area,” Mr. Jones said.
“Our investigations actually did feature that name being mentioned, individuals did call in and say that … Baptist was mentioned,” RCIPS Superintendent Marlon Bodden said. “The name Baptist was mentioned … not necessarily as a suspect. But we don’t know where that bit of information would lie, whether it’s as a witness or whether it’s as a suspect.”
Violence spreads
Two other killings later in the month cemented police concerns of gang violence
On Monday night, 19 September, teenager Jason Christian became the fourth fatal shooting victim of the week.
A second victim, 22-year-old Keith Montique, was also shot but survived.
Mr. Jones described how a police patrol officer had been answering an unrelated incident around 9.30pm that Monday in Birchwood Drive, off Crewe Road, when an obviously injured Mr. Montique staggered up to the police car and opened the door, saying he had just been shot.
As the officer was transporting the gunshot victim, who had been shot four times, to the Cayman Islands Hospital, the wounded man told him his friend had also been shot and was still in nearby Cranbrook Drive.
Mr. Jones described Mr. Christian’s killing, and the three earlier fatal shootings in West Bay, as “assassinations”. All four victims had been shot in the head.
Three days later, 21-year-old Asher McGaw was found lying dead in the street in East End.
Police officers on routine patrol discovered the body of Mr. McGaw of East End on John McLean Drive near the East End Primary School at about 3am.
At press time, the RCIPS had brought charges against one man accused of killing Mr. McGaw in East End. That man, Chakane Jameile Scott, was charged with murder and firearms possession.
Other arrests were made in connection with the deaths of Andrew Baptist and Jason Christian, but no charges had been brought before the court.
Governor says ‘enough’
The seemingly out-of-control gang violence led Cayman Islands Governor Duncan Taylor to request assistance from the United Kingdom, which arrived in October in the form of about 20 additional officers from several north-west England police forces.
In early 2010, 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 in September 2011. “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 [in murder trials]. 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.
“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 supported rolling back budget cuts to the police department that were made during the financial crunch of recent years. The recruitment of additional officers also began to bolster RCIPS capacity.
Legal changes
In addition to providing additional officers and funds, legislators considered a number of changes to the Cayman Islands Penal Code and criminal procedure laws to make it easier for police to break up suspected gang activity and arrest members of the criminal gangs for much more minor offences.
Changes proposed for the Cayman Islands Firearms Law, for instance, would allow for warrant-less searches of homes and individuals where police officers have “reasonable cause” to suspect someone possesses an illegal firearm.
In addition to the changes proposed for police searches and length of detention, the bill also sets out the circumstances in which the legal ‘burden of proof’ would rest on the suspect in firearms cases, rather than on the Crown. The issue was discussed by Police Commissioner David Baines earlier this year.
Mr. Baines said what was being reviewed with the attorney general’s office was essentially a “reversal” in the burden of proof for people found in possession of unlicensed guns in their homes or vehicles.
“The burden of proof is now for us to demonstrate possession of that individual of that gun,” Mr. Baines said. “That will be changed.
If you are found to have a gun in your car or a gun under your bed without any reasonable excuse … it is deemed to be in your possession and under your control.”
According to the Firearms [Amendment] Bill, 2011, “where it is proved beyond a reasonable doubt” that the person had possession of a firearm or bullet-proof vest, imported anything containing a firearm or bullet-proof vest, or supplied anyone with such an item then “it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved” that the individual knew of the firearm or vest being present in the location it was found.
Related Videos
