A senseless, unprovoked shooting has robbed a close-knit family of their beloved patriarch, a 71-year-old hardworking construction worker who spent decades raising six children alone and keeping to himself in his adopted home of The Bahamas.
St Gerard Nord, a Haitian national with permanent residency in The Bahamas, died in a local hospital on Friday, two days after an unknown gunman ambushed him as he sat in his parked vehicle outside his Wilson Tract residence, preparing to leave for the day. Nord had only celebrated his 71st birthday four months prior, and was quietly looking forward to retiring in his home country of Haiti after a lifetime of work.
The devastating news has left his relatives, most of whom live abroad, reeling with grief and confusion, as they struggle to reconcile why anyone would target a man they describe as gentle, hardworking, and entirely unconnected to trouble.
Lynda Nord Seide, Nord’s daughter, who lives outside of The Bahamas, recalled speaking to her father just hours before the attack, when the pair laughed, joked, and caught up on life as they usually did during their twice-weekly calls. When her sister called her at work the next morning with the shocking news, Seide said the blow was overwhelming. “I felt like everything just left my body. I felt like my soul literally just left my body, and it’s just been a blur and a roller coaster of emotion for the past week,” she told local outlet The Tribune.
According to initial police accounts, a purple vehicle pulled onto the street near Nord’s home last Wednesday. A gunman exited the vehicle, opened fire on Nord, and immediately fled the scene. Relatives confirmed that Nord suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Bystanders told investigators they had seen a vehicle matching that description parked near the home with multiple men inside in the moments leading up to the attack, a detail that has deepened the family’s confusion.
Nord’s life was defined by quiet responsibility. When Seide was just seven years old, his wife died, leaving him to raise all six of their children alone as a single father. He worked tirelessly in construction to provide for his family, never sought conflict, and had no known ties to criminal groups or gang activity, his relatives said. The family has confirmed that while Nord did mention a minor conflict with an acquaintance that began last year, he never expressed fear for his safety, and the family has no insight into whether that dispute was connected to his killing.
For Tasha Oliver Milfrise, Nord’s niece and goddaughter who also lives overseas, the violence is incomprehensible. She had just visited The Bahamas two weeks before the shooting for her own father’s funeral, and got to see her godfather during that trip. “I just don’t understand. How can someone just take a 71-year-old life?” she said. “My godfather never bothered anyone.”
Seide described her father as the unshakable pillar of the family, and said he was incredibly proud that all six of his children had built lives abroad. Beyond his work and his dedication to his kids, Nord lived a quiet, unassuming life: he kept to himself, avoided conflict, and was planning the next chapter of his life back in Haiti after decades of working in The Bahamas. Right now, the family’s only request is answers and justice for a man who never harmed anyone.