Two of the young men gunned down on Grand Cayman last week were caught up in a long-running gang-style dispute between certain residents of two West Bay neighbourhoods, Royal Cayman Islands Police Service officials said.
On Saturday night, a third victim – recent John Gray High School graduate Preston Rivers – was shot to death in West Bay. But police did not immediately link Mr. Rivers’ killing with what happened to the other two men.
In the third incident, which occurred just before 10.30pm Saturday, shots rang out in the vicinity of Thatch Palm Villas on Andersen Road.
Witnesses there reported four shots had been fired, but it was not immediately known what led to the shooting.
The Thatch Palm Villas saw another shooting less than a month ago in the parking lot of the complex. The teenager hit in that incident survived his injuries. He was not the same individual who was killed on Saturday night.
Again, police did not immediately link the two shootings at the condo complex.
The shooting deaths of Andrew Anthony Baptist, 24, Thursday night and Robert Macford Bush, 28, on Tuesday may have been directly linked to each other. Police indicated Mr. Baptist’s name came up during investigations into Mr. Bush’s killing.
The violence comes a little more than a year after the last round of gang-related killings hit West Bay in 2010, leaving five males – including an innocent 4-year-old boy – dead.
“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.
Mr. Bush was hit with blasts from a shotgun as well as shots from what police said appeared to be a 9mm pistol as he sat in his car on Captains Joe and Osbert Road late Tuesday night. A woman in the vehicle with Mr. Bush was hit by scattershot from the shotgun blasts and was later released from hospital.
Although reports from the scene were still confused by week’s end, police said it was likely that “at least two gunmen” approached Mr. Bush’s vehicle and fired.
Less than 48 hours later, Royal Cayman Islands Police Service officials said Mr. Baptist was shot in the back of the head in a yard on Sand Hole Road.
Police said Mr. Baptist was hanging out with a group of friends outside a home when two gunmen approached them from behind the house. The group scattered just as shots were being fired, police said.
Gunshot wounds to Mr. Baptist’s head were so severe there was no chance of saving him, police said. A special constable who was in the area at the time of the shooting reported hearing two or three gunshots. However, other witnesses reported hearing as many as four.
Mr. Jones said police believed several shots had been fired, but he couldn’t confirm the exact number.
No one else was hurt in Thursday’s shooting.
RCIPS Superintendent Marlon Bodden said Friday that Mr. Baptist’s name had come up in connection with Tuesday night’s slaying.
“Our investigations actually did feature that name being mentioned, individuals did call in and say that … Baptist was mentioned,” Mr. 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.”
Mr. Bodden also said the RCIPS Criminal Investigation Department, which he runs, had received calls providing them with a good deal of background information on what led up to Mr. Bush’s killing Tuesday.
Sadly, that information came in too late to save Mr. Bush or Mr. Baptist, Mr. Bodden said.
“We have repeatedly asked the public to pass on information to us. It’s just unfortunate that it took another life before individuals volunteer information to us,” he said. “I am certain that if they brought this information to our attention, probably Robert Bush would have been alive today and probably we would not have been reporting a second murder within 48 hours.”
No arrests were immediately reported in either shooting.
Precisely what touched off this latest gang feud was not clear. Mr. Bush’s family members have said they believed his shooting on Tuesday was in retaliation for an attack in July on a man outside a local bar. Mr. Bush had been charged in that attack and released from jail prior to his trial.
However, Mr. Jones said the July assault outside West Bay’s Club Inferno was somewhat minor, and noted some time had passed since the incident.
“It was, on the face of it, a relatively minor assault … and it happened some weeks ago,” he said. “We had no intelligence to say there was trouble brewing because of that incident.”
In any case, Mr. Jones said it appeared the nature of the dispute between the two rival West Bay factions appeared to be “quite juvenile”. The 35-year veteran UK-born policeman said these types of disputes would often make no sense to outside observers.
“I’ve certainly experienced in my police career people getting murdered for treading on somebody’s toe … that’s the sad thing about it,” Mr. Jones said. “On a number of occasions it’s something trivial that sparks these feuds.” Superintendent Bodden, a native Caymanian, was a bit more blunt in describing the situation.
“It is ridiculous. The individuals that have actually undertaken to destroy their own Islands … I don’t know what kind of mindset that they actually have,” Mr. Bodden said. “It’s like me living in my own house and decide I’m going to destroy it.
“Where do I go after that?”
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It is amazing how a small number of stupid individuals can tarnish the name of a whole country and how a whole country cannot stop a small number of stupid individuals. Come on Cayman lets work together and put an end to this disgusting behavior. Come forward to the police with any information you may have!
As a visitor to Grand Cayman for 3 months during the summer of 2010, I am heartsick at the turn of events regarding serious crime. You could see it starting while I was on island with pizza shop and petrol station holdups. Why the police and the island’s political leaders did not immediately respond strongly last year is spilled milk at this point.
If you do not move strongly to fix this problem-whatever it takes-you can expect the cruise ships to lessen in frequency and eventually go away. Other than Grand Cayman’s staggering, natural-beauty, its selling point for middle aged and older visitors has been its personal safety. If word gets around about your sudden gang problem, the island’s tourist business will be dead in the water. Nobody wants to take a cruise ship or a flight to get mugged or worse.
It is no coincidence that the crime problem has mushroomed as the island’s youth unemployment has risen. Too many people without jobs and without a future with too much time on their hands.
The leaders of the island still have a window to fight this problem with strong community policing, more police and armed police but also with a concerted effort to put more of the island’s residence to work. Jobs ultimately are a lot cheaper than police officers. But the window is closing fast.
Robert Yuna
Buffalo, New York
For the first time in 31 years I am NOT excited about a trip to Grand Cayman. I will be on the Island in a few days and don’t even know if I will be safe at the condo. Cayman you have got to get this under control. Bring in people from outside the country. Whatever it cost it will be worth it in the long run. What a sad day for Cayman.
It’s extremely sad to learn the current state of rise in criminal acts in the Cayman Islands. I have lived in the Cayman Islands for a decade and West Bay is where I resided for the most part. It used to be a calm quiet area other than a few burglaries that went on there more so in the later part of my stay there especially after hurricane Ivan. But never has it been this bad. Money has corrupted the people, especially the younger generation whose parents’ sudden fortune gave them luxuries of life too soon. The government’s inability to confront and find a solution to the new economic reality is what is bringing down the society. There’s more to come if the government does not realize the impact of the new financial regulations (which will be in force by 2013) being pursued by the US and other nations. That will mean fewer revenues and tonnes of job loss for Cayman. The local government cannot stop that but can pursue newer avenues for generating economic activities, jobs and revenues for the nation. Unless they address this and other real issues and create opportunities for the youth of Cayman, Cayman will see such negative societal issues plague them.
Stop fiddling around police. Even Nero would have put down his violin by now.
House-to-house arrest of all with firearms, deport the foreign gangsters and let the weak-minded Caymanian gangsters who emulate their Jamaican brethren rot in jail,
ok let me get this right – so…
Police indicated Mr. Baptist’s name came up during investigations into Mr. Bush’s killing, but yet they DID NOT find and arrest Mr. Baptist and hold him for questioning and investigating his whereabouts that night. This could have been a life saved if police did there job, not saying it’s the RCIPs fault for the cause of the murders but still… they could have possibly prevented that one in particular. Just a thought!!!
The comment about it being ‘quite juvenile’…isn’t that always the case with gangsters? They are not usually blessed with faculties like reasoning, implications of actions and responsibilities.
I would change the whole police force and put new police officers in place, much too corrupt now. What i mean is that a lot of these officers are family to gang members and simply wont do anything about it, purging of police force would nice, and hell no don’t give them guns. That’s just playing with fire.
WOW! I didn’t know the Caymans had crime gangs. Oh sure crime is in every corner of the world, but gangs? On the islands? I mean geez its an island! Where do you think you are gonna go.You have 2 choices, 1 requires a passport the other, well lets just say your not going so far you cann’t be found bobing around in the Carribbean. Especially it seems we are talking about juve’s who don’t usually put a lot of thought into the uh oh.. what’ll I do now? I’m no stranger to gang violence. I have spent almost 30 years in law enforcement in a city the FBI consistently rates in the top 10 in every major index. The Carribbean is where lots of people are dreaming of retiring to,including me. And these retirees will demand safety. Now while the dream of the island life is grand, a lot of smaller 3rd world countries along the South American coast have long standing political,drug gang and crime issues that are all interconnected and foreigners would best be advised to stay away. But the Caymans being a U.K. territorty, British soil,(think I got that right) should be on top of its game. IT’S AN ISLAND FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! AND IT’S NOT THAT BIG!! And from, what appears to an outsider, to be a growing problem. I only read of 3 killings and from what I gathered thats about it, Oh! and armed robberies too! Not exactly an epidemic. Side Note: Where are the guns coming from? How’s customs doing? However, I was a little shocked to have read an article that the Commssioner was not going to arm all police but have teams he can call out if gun violence erupts. And if that team is out on a call he can have another team take up that station. Really? (I’m laughing as I say it.)How Re-actionary can one be? Cutting edge police work there for sure. NOT!!! Tourist trade pictures like to reflect unarmed police or police with pistols that are in quaint but archaic holsters with a flap that conceal them from view. Both ideas are prehistoric. Nothing is more asinine than sending 1st responder unarmed police into a violent crime scene. Now I know nothing of Cayman ways, laws etc. and island life but from what I hear is suppossed to be laid back, easy going etc. But you can not approach law enforcement and peoples safety that way. Not today. And not in a country that has Tourism as a huge chunk of it’s income for survival. If you don’t want all officers armed put them in the tourist areas for the photo shoots but for Chrsit Sakes arm your guys in the trenches doing the dirty work that tourists don’t want to see, read about or worst, be apart of. Now you have the means and the ability to protect and serve citizens and tourists alike.If you have to hire out side of the country to get trained, experienced officers in community policing, fire arms etc. then do it. Heck I will be retiring in a few years. Was wanting to open a business in the Carribbean any way and work retired. There would be alot of educated, trained, experienced officers from ALL over the world who would join the RCIPS, work, retire and live the island dream. In fact that could be a starting point for a new envisioned RCIPS with the goal to make the Caymans what every body dreams of in the islands. Just my POV.
pdaddy
All other things being equal…your words carry a lot of weight and sound advice but…
Things are not nor have ever been equal or straightforward in Cayman and this is why this problem has escalated to the point that it has.
Let me point out a couple of inconsistencies in the facts and statements by certaing high officials and leave you to connect the dots.
Eg, the statements of Governor Duncan Taylor; consider that he inherited this problem, why is it only now we are hearing his voice on the matter.
Eg, the statements of the Commissioner of Police; he too inherited this problem but now that it has reached ‘critical’ levels, his only solution is to ‘come between the warring gangs, blame the public for not giving him information and arm his police officers with TASERS and BIGGER BATONS.
I ask you, in all your years of police experience, have you ever heard anything so utterly pathetic from any US police chief, faced with the same problems ?
Let me alert you to the heart of this immediate problem, which David Baines is being paid something in the region of US 250,000 PER ANNUM, to solve…
David Baines, our dear, beloved Commissioner of Police for the Cayman Islands, is trying to deal with US-style, gunman-business gangsters, using pathetic BRITISH-style policing, where firearms are not the norm in everyday criminal activity…and where …
Just a couple of days ago, a man was accosted in his own home by a couple of dangerous robbers, who put a knife to his throat and threatened to kill him if he didn’t ‘show them the money’; when this man’s wife and young child returned home during this robbery, this man was forced to defend himself and his family and one of these robbers got stabbed in a knife fight and bled to death.
The homeowner, under this same British law, has been arrested on suspicion of MURDER; a crime which calls for pre-meditation and motive.
Where in the USA, could you ever consider such an outcome to a home-invasion/home/family/self-protection incident that led to a home-invading , violent robber being killed by a homeowner defending his home and family?
It is this culture and legal structure that our good Mr. Baines expects to combat Cayman’s armed criminals with, who obviously have excellent firearms skills, as they are now ‘executing’ their victims with lethal ‘head’ shots, a skill that requires some practice and experience.
Its obviously not crossed Mr. Baines mind that there could be a professional killer at work here and I guarantee you, there are more for hire in neighbouring countries to Cayman, than the RCIPS would ever know about, if MR. Baines knowledge and experience in policing a Caribbean country is anything to go by.
There, in a nutshell, is the answer to your questions.