标签： Bahamas

A fatal early-morning shooting in the heart of Nassau has left a 24-year-old man dead and law enforcement searching for an at-large suspect, with graphic footage of the aftermath spreading widely across social media platforms.

The victim has been identified as Alistair Major, according to local sources close to the investigation. Police confirmed Friday that Major was wearing an electronic monitoring device linked to a prior serious criminal charge, though investigators have not released additional details about the nature of that open case. Court records show Major was already facing an attempted murder charge connected to a 2024 incident involving Rayshaun Rolle, filed last July by Nassau prosecutors.

The shooting unfolded shortly after 2:30 a.m. yesterday at the intersection of Bay Street and Parliament Street, a busy downtown corridor. When first responders arrived at the scene, they found Major unresponsive on the sidewalk with a critical gunshot wound to the head. A 40-second video circulated on social media captures the chaotic immediate aftermath, showing panicked bystanders scrambling to provide aid: multiple people check Major’s pulse, reposition his motionless body, and shout frantically as they attempt to keep him alive. In the footage, a small crowd remains clustered around Major after he is turned onto his side then back to his back, with one man sitting dejectedly beside him.

A second social media video, purportedly captured in the hours before the shooting, shows Major alive and in apparent good spirits at a local nightclub. In the footage, Major is holding an alcoholic beverage and displaying cash, wearing the same outfit he had on at the time of the shooting. The clip has been circulated online as a record of Major’s final hours before the attack.

Early investigative findings indicate the shooting followed a verbal dispute between Major and an unknown male suspect. According to police accounts, the suspect pulled a firearm during the altercation and fired at Major before fleeing the area. Investigators say the suspect left the scene driving a white Japanese-made vehicle, heading south along Parliament Street. No arrests have been announced as of press time.

V12 Restaurant & Lounge, a local hospitality business located near the shooting site, released an official statement Thursday extending condolences to Major’s family while clarifying the incident had no connection to their establishment. “Based on the information available to us, the incident did not originate inside V12 Restaurant & Lounge, and the individuals involved did not enter our establishment,” the statement read.

The business added that it would not engage in unconfirmed speculation about the shooting while law enforcement works through the investigation, urging the public to allow authorities to complete their work. “We encourage the public to allow the appropriate authorities to conduct their investigation and, most importantly, to keep the affected family and loved ones in their thoughts and prayers during this extremely difficult time,” the statement concluded.

The 2025 new school term in The Bahamas got off to a chaotic start this week, as more than 90 percent of members of the Bahamas Educators Managerial Union (BEMU) launched rare industrial action that forced early dismissal for 40,000 public school students across the archipelago. Only hours after the strike began, the Supreme Court granted an emergency interim injunction ordering all union members back to work and blocking further protest action.

The legal order, issued by Justice Darron Ellis at the request of the country’s Minister of Education and Attorney General, applies to BEMU, its leadership, and all participating members. Beyond mandating an immediate return to scheduled workplaces, the injunction prohibits BEMU members from taking uncertified sick leave and bars union officials from encouraging, pressuring, or inciting other Ministry of Education employees to skip work. Both sides are scheduled to reappear before Justice Ellis at 10 a.m. today, and the union retains the right to petition for the interim order to be modified or overturned.

The industrial action followed months of unresolved grievances that BEMU has raised against the government. Union president Stephen McPhee confirmed that BEMU officially activated its legally authorized strike certificate on the day of the action, after a membership vote held during an emergency Monday meeting. Of more than 200 online voting participants, just 14 opposed the strike, while more than 200 backed it. BEMU counts over 500 members across the country’s public education system, including school principals, vice principals, district superintendents, examination coordinators, and technical education administrators.

McPhee emphasized that the union had attempted to negotiate with the government for roughly five months to resolve its core demands. The union’s grievances include unresolved promotion cases dating back as far as 2016 and 2018, widespread unfilled administrative vacancies across the nation’s 161 public schools, and an expired collective industrial agreement that lapsed in June 2025. BEMU submitted a draft proposal for a new agreement months ago, but has yet to receive a counterproposal from the government.

Many of the promotion disputes center on administrators who have been performing the duties of higher-level roles for years without receiving formal appointments or the corresponding pay increases. McPhee specifically called out the $58.33 monthly pay increase that promoted members are legally owed, noting that many have been denied this incremental raise despite already carrying out the responsibilities of the higher role. The union has also challenged what it calls “unconstitutional postings,” where members are assigned to higher roles without formal approval from the Public Service Commission. While the government recently promoted 36 administrators, McPhee questioned why long-pending cases for promotions from 2016 and 2018 remain unaddressed, leaving senior staff working under newly promoted juniors.

After the union’s demands were not addressed, the next scheduled meeting between BEMU and government negotiators was not set until September 14, a timeline McPhee said the union could not accept. “We have begged, we have pleaded,” McPhee said in comments Wednesday. “As of this day, we have invoked our right… We are asking you to come to sit and to listen to us… on how we can resolve these most pressing matters.” He rejected claims the action was an unapproved sick-out, noting the strike certificate was formally issued by the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and National Insurance, making the action legal prior to the court injunction.

Education Minister Chester Cooper characterized the strike as “precipitous, disruptive and disappointing,” pushing back against the union’s claim that the government had refused to engage. Cooper confirmed he met with McPhee in August, and the union president subsequently held a two-hour negotiating session with the Ministry of Education’s permanent secretary and director. He noted that BEMU submitted its full list of demands on August 24, and he had requested time to coordinate with the Public Service Commission and other government agencies, with talks set to resume on September 14. “Some of them are legacy issues,” Cooper said. “Therefore, in my considered view, and any reasonable person’s considered view, waiting another two weeks to come back to the table with resolution would be reasonable.” He added that it was “counterintuitive” for administrators to walk off the job at a time when the system already faces a shortage of administrative staff, as the country works to restore normalcy to school operations.

Initially, the Ministry of Education activated its contingency plan to keep schools open despite the absence of most administrators, with Cooper confirming most of the nation’s 161 public schools remained operational through the morning. By noon, however, the ministry was forced to dismiss all students across New Providence, Grand Bahama, and the outlying Family Islands, notifying parents and guardians to pick up their children immediately and wait for further updates on when schools would reopen.

Prior to the court injunction, the government’s Labour Relations Unit had stepped in to mediate the dispute, with talks running past 1 a.m. Wednesday that secured a planned meeting between BEMU leadership and Minister Cooper on Wednesday. McPhee praised LRU chief negotiator Bernard Evans for his mediation efforts, but noted that any deal reached would need to be put to a vote of the full union membership before industrial action could end. The interim injunction has now paused all strike activity ahead of further court proceedings.

In a separate and parallel development, the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) is also considering its own industrial action over an ongoing salary dispute with the government. The union’s latest voting shows that 80.5 percent of responding members rejected the government’s most recent salary counterproposal, and 84.8 percent have authorized strike action if the union’s deadline for a deal passes without an agreement. That deadline is set for midnight tonight.

A targeted daylight assassination in Abaco, The Bahamas, has left an innocent local teen injured after he was struck by gunfire while simply stopping for a drink on his commute home from school, community leaders have confirmed. On Monday, 50-year-old Warren “Spy” Ellis — a man long linked to alleged drug trafficking and organized crime in the region — was killed in a public shooting that also caught the 14-year-old Patrick J Bethel High School eighth-grader in the line of fire.

Senior Pastor Beabrun Bresslin of Marsh Harbour’s New Haitian Mission Baptist Church, who has been supporting the boy’s family, has pushed back against widespread false social media speculation claiming the teen had connections to Ellis. Bresslin emphasized that the student had no ties whatsoever to the victim, and was not with Ellis at the time of the attack. The boy had simply left school, stopped at Parts City Auto Parts to purchase a cold drink, and was walking out of the store when gunmen opened fire on Ellis, who was walking just behind him.

Graphic footage from the scene captures the moment the teen was hit in his right leg, showing him dropping his school backpack and hopping back to the safety of the store as bullets flew. The student was quickly airlifted to the main hospital hub in New Providence for emergency care Monday night, and was discharged just one day later. Medical teams confirmed the bullet passed cleanly through the muscle tissue of his leg, avoiding any major damage to bones or critical vessels, leaving the boy with no life-altering injuries. While his physical condition is stable, the traumatic experience has left the teen deeply shaken, Bresslin said.

Despite the good medical outcome, the low-income family has faced significant financial and logistical barriers to continuing the teen’s care. The boy’s mother works as a stay-at-home housewife, and his father does not have consistent, stable employment. The pair accompanied their son to New Providence, but had no local family to stay with and could not afford hotel accommodation, forcing them to spend the entire first night at the hospital. Doctors recommended the teen remain in New Providence for several weeks of close follow-up checks, but the family could not cover the costs of an extended stay. With Bresslin stepping in to purchase their return tickets, the family travelled back to Abaco on Tuesday, and will now complete follow-up care at the local Marsh Harbour clinic. Bresslin’s church has pledged to provide the teen with professional counselling to help him process the traumatic event, and the pastor is currently appealing to the public for donations to cover the family’s unexpected medical and travel costs. He can be reached at 476-2874 for community members willing to contribute.

Octervil Baptiste, president of the Abaco Haitian Pastors Association, joined Bresslin in correcting misinformation circulating online about the teen’s involvement, noting that the random nature of the incident means it could have happened to any local resident. “He was passing by the store, and he stopped by the store to get something to drink. That’s something that could happen to anyone,” Baptiste said, adding that he hopes law enforcement will move quickly to identify and apprehend the attackers.

Police have confirmed that five gunmen coordinated the attack, with footage showing four suspects carrying high-powered military-grade weapons as they approached Ellis. The attackers escaped in a Cadillac, which was later found abandoned and set on fire to destroy evidence. Law enforcement sources told local media the killing is suspected to be a retaliatory attack connected to Ellis’ alleged past criminal activity.

Ellis had a decades-long public connection to criminal allegations, though formal cases against him were repeatedly discontinued over the years. In 2001, he was charged with murder and attempted murder following the killing of nurse Joan Lunn during an alleged hit on a patient at Princess Margaret Hospital. Those charges were dropped after Ellis agreed to testify against co-defendant Kendon Brown, who was ultimately sentenced to life in prison. In 2008, he was charged alongside an extradited drug dealer for the 2000 murder of Timothy Henfield, but the case was stayed the next year after the prosecution’s key witness recanted their testimony. Most recently, in 2018, Ellis and his wife were arrested at Lynden Pindling International Airport while en route to Canada after police found more than $13,000 in cash in their luggage; those charges were also ultimately dropped.

According to Tribune records, Monday’s killing marks the second murder recorded in Abaco this year, and the 52nd homicide across The Bahamas in 2024 as of the date of the shooting. As of Tuesday, it remained unclear whether any suspects had been taken into custody.

On a Sunday in downtown Nassau, a diverse crowd made up of leaders from the Bahamas Christian Council and ordinary citizens from across the archipelago filled Rawson Square for the country’s National Prayer Rally, an event centered on the core values of collective prayer and national solidarity.

Organized to bring together people of faith from across the nation, the gathering moved through a structured series of focused prayer sessions, each targeting key pillars of Bahamian life. Participants first offered prayers of national repentance, calling for reflection on shared challenges and collective growth as a community. They then turned their attention to interceding for the country’s sitting government, asking for wisdom and sound judgment in policy making that serves all Bahamian people.

Additional prayer sessions were dedicated to the nation’s network of churches and their spiritual leaders, asking for strength and clarity as they guide congregations across the islands. Attendees also lifted up prayers for sustainable, inclusive economic growth and long-term financial stability for the Bahamas, a pressing priority for communities still recovering from recent economic headwinds. The rally closed with prayers for the national protection of the country and its people, reaffirming many attendees’ dedication to centering faith in national public life.

A midday public shooting in Abaco has left high-profile suspected drug trafficker Warren “Spy” Ellis dead and a young child injured, sending shockwaves through the tight-knit island community and stoking widespread anxiety over potential follow-on violence.

The 51-year-old victim was gunned down by multiple assailants wielding high-powered firearms yesterday as he exited Parts City Auto Parts, a well-known local auto retailer. The young boy, caught in the barrage of bullets, was airlifted urgently to the main hospital hub in New Providence to receive specialized emergency care that was not available locally.

As of the publication of this report, Bahamian law enforcement has released only limited official details on the attack. Chief Superintendent Sheria King confirmed that a specialized investigative team from Grand Bahama has been deployed to Abaco to support local authorities in processing the scene and advancing the case. Unnamed police sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Tribune, indicate that investigators believe the gunmen are not residents of Abaco, and that the killing itself was likely an act of retaliation connected to prior criminal disputes.

Graphic videos of the aftermath circulating widely on social media show Ellis lying motionless on the pavement outside the retail store, with catastrophic visible injuries. Local media confirm his body remained at the crime scene for multiple hours before coroners removed it, a delay that drew hundreds of curious and concerned onlookers to the area. As word of the shooting spread across the island, the growing crowd revealed deep divides in public opinion: some residents openly mourned Ellis’ death, while others quietly expressed relief that a figure long linked to criminal activity had been killed.

Witnesses from nearby businesses described the terrifying moments of the attack, saying they heard dozens of shots ring out in quick succession before scrambling to take cover behind counters and walls. Multiple bystanders noted that Ellis’ cell phone continued to ring repeatedly as his body lay unattended at the scene, a small, haunting detail that has stuck with many in the community.

Roscoe Thompson, top administrator for the Marsh Harbour/Spring City Township, told reporters he counted at least 25 spent shell casings left scattered across the pavement after the attack. Thompson emphasized that the sheer boldness of carrying out a mass shooting in broad daylight, outside a busy commercial business where civilians and children regularly pass, has pushed community anxiety to new heights.

“It just shows you that if someone wants to get you, it doesn’t matter if you’re out in broad daylight or behind closed doors at night,” Thompson said. “If somebody is that brazen, they’re going to get you.”

Thompson added that the crime scene investigation clogged local roads, with police blocking off large sections of the main thoroughfare to preserve evidence, creating major traffic disruptions for hours after the shooting. “It’s just sad, and it’s concerning,” he said. “Is there going to be retaliation now? What’s going to happen next?” Local residents and government leaders are calling on law enforcement to maintain a heightened visible presence in Abaco to prevent further bloodshed.

Ellis had a long history of attracting law enforcement attention, even as formal convictions against him remained rare. In 2018, he and his wife were taken into custody at Lynden Pindling International Airport as they prepared to board a flight to Canada, after officers found $13,000 in cash stashed in their checked luggage. All criminal charges against the pair were ultimately dropped before they could go to trial. For years, Ellis’ name has appeared repeatedly in social media posts linking him to large-scale drug trafficking operations across the Bahamas, though none of those allegations were ever proven in a court of law.

According to The Tribune’s ongoing annual homicide tracking, yesterday’s attack marks the second murder recorded in Abaco so far this year, and the 52nd homicide across the entire Bahamas in 2024 to date. The killing comes amid ongoing national concerns about violent crime and gang-related retaliation across Bahamian island communities.

A devastating loss has sent deep ripples of sorrow through the tight-knit Abaco community in The Bahamas, after the sudden passing of 20-year-old Dahphaney Maxine, a standout second-year nursing student and accomplished athlete at the University of The Bahamas.

Maxine, a native of Abaco, was discovered unresponsive in her on-campus dormitory shortly after midnight. University officials confirmed that cardiopulmonary resuscitation was initiated immediately, and emergency response teams were dispatched to the scene quickly. She was transported to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. The cause of her death remains undetermined at this time, and university administration has confirmed it is cooperating fully with relevant law enforcement and public health authorities to investigate the full circumstances of the incident.

Beyond her academic pursuits in nursing, Maxine built a remarkable legacy across the university community. She served as a student leader, worked as a resident assistant in campus dormitories, and was a key member of the university’s volleyball team. She was also an active and devoted member of her local church, touching the lives of many through her off-campus engagement.

For her mother, Crystal Bostwick, the loss comes with an added layer of heartbreak: Maxine’s passing fell just one day before the first anniversary of Bostwick’s own mother’s death. In an emotional post on Facebook, Bostwick opened up about her overwhelming grief, while leaning on her faith for strength. “This is hard, but I know that God would not put more on me than I can bear,” she wrote.

Bostwick remembered her daughter as a vibrant, full-of-life young woman with endless potential to give to the world, describing their uniquely close bond that blended maternal love and deep friendship. “The first beat outside of my body,” she said. “If you know, you know that this was my chocolate baby. My baby that had been with me through thick and thin. I knew when to be a friend, I knew when to step in as her mother. We were peas in a pod.”

Keturah, Maxine’s cousin and lifelong best friend, reflected on their decades-long inseparable connection, saying the pair had been “attached to the hip” since infancy. She remembered Maxine as a consistently reliable source of support through every high and low, and pledged to carry her legacy forward. “Through good times and difficult moments, she was someone I could count on,” Keturah said. “Her love, kindness and impact will live on.”

The University of The Bahamas Student Government Association also issued a formal statement of condolence to Maxine’s family, affirming that the entire campus community shares in their grief. The association highlighted the unique discipline and commitment required to thrive as both a full-time student and competitive athlete, noting that Maxine embodied those values fully.

“As fellow Mingoes and student athletes, we recognise the dedication, discipline, sacrifice, and commitment required to excel both in the classroom and on the court,” the statement read. It went on to praise Maxine for embodying the core values of teamwork, leadership, perseverance, character and integrity, all while lifting up and supporting every person around her.

A tragic industrial accident has claimed the life of a 52-year-old Jamaican man in Grand Bahama, who died after becoming trapped between a vehicle and a car-crushing machine at a local junkyard. His body was only recovered by worried relatives who launched a full search after being unable to contact him for more than a day.

Local news outlet The Tribune has confirmed the victim as Leon Taylor, an employee at a service station operated by FOCOL, though police have not yet released his name to the public. Taylor’s unresponsive body was discovered just after 9pm on Sunday at the rear of Kent Motors Ltd, a junkyard located along Queen’s Highway in Freeport.

The timeline of the incident remains under preliminary investigation, with conflicting accounts emerging about Taylor’s authorization to be on the property. According to official police statements, Taylor was a regular visitor to the junkyard seeking mechanical parts, and was reportedly granted permission to enter the premises on Saturday to collect electrical components. However, Dave Atkinson, the owner of Kent Motors, denies giving Taylor approval to be on the property after hours on Saturday, when the business was already closed to the public.

Falan Jean-Jacques, Taylor’s cousin, shared that family members grew alarmed when repeated attempts to reach Taylor went unanswered. They first checked his home and his regular workplace before tracing his steps to Kent Motors, where they found his personal car parked outside the entrance. A relative had already spoken to Taylor at the junkyard during Saturday afternoon, confirming he had made it to the location that day.

The family immediately contacted Atkinson, who agreed to join their search effort. After combing the large junkyard property, relatives eventually found Taylor pinned between a Honda vehicle and the site’s car-crushing machinery, and promptly called emergency services.

Superintendent Nicholas Johnson, head of the local Criminal Investigation Department, explained that first responders required heavy equipment to reposition the vehicles and free Taylor from the trap. Once extricated, emergency medical services rushed to provide immediate medical care, but their efforts were in vain. Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene, with no signs of life detected by medical personnel.

Atkinson told reporters he was contacted around 8pm on Sunday as he was leaving church, and immediately traveled to the junkyard to assist with the search. During the search, the team noted several vehicles throughout the yard had their doors and hoods propped open, indicating someone had been sorting through them looking for specific parts in the hours before the accident. After spotting the open tailgate of a Honda Fit, the group searched the nearby area and found Taylor’s trapped body.

Atkinson emphasized that he has known Taylor for an extended period, but reiterated that no permission was granted for Taylor to enter the yard that Saturday night. “I had no communications with him for him to be in the yard,” Atkinson said, adding that the business is completely closed on Sundays, and he never grants access to the unattended yard after hours.

However, Jean-Jacques pushed back on the claim that Taylor was trespassing, noting that Taylor had a longstanding, friendly relationship with the Atkinson family, and regularly collected vehicle parts from the junkyard with the family’s knowledge, paying for the parts after picking them up. “Yes, the owner and we are family friends,” she said. “Mr Atkinson of Kent Motors and we are family friends.” She added that Taylor would often trade parts with the Atkinson family as well, creating a mutually beneficial regular arrangement.

Atkinson separately acknowledged that Kent Motors has dealt with repeated issues of unauthorized after-hours entry for years, with people sneaking onto the property to steal scrap metal, copper wiring, catalytic converters and valuable auto components from unused vehicles. Police have not made any claims that Taylor was involved in theft, nor have they suggested his death is connected to the ongoing problem of trespassing at the site.

Jean-Jacques remembered her cousin as a kind, hard-working and dependable member of the community, saying “He was hard-working, easy-going all the time. He was a sweetheart. Always there when you need him.” The tragedy comes just months after Taylor traveled back to Jamaica to attend his mother’s funeral, leaving his family reeling from an unexpected second devastating loss.

For the grieving family, the sudden loss remains difficult to process. “It’s still unreal,” Jean-Jacques said. “You never expect a loved one to go like that.” Taylor’s siblings living in the United States, the United Kingdom and Jamaica have all been notified of his death. An official autopsy has been scheduled to confirm the exact cause of death, as police continue their preliminary investigation into the accident.

As summer draws to a close and families across the Bahamas gear up for a new academic year, one grieving community in Crown Haven is confronting a stabbing pain that has not faded in 12 months. A year ago this August, 12-year-old Montana Ferguson, a seventh-grader at Sherlin C Bootle Secondary School, lost his life when an overnight stay at a friend’s home turned deadly, consumed by an out-of-control house fire that has since sparked urgent calls for long-overlooked fire service infrastructure in the island’s small northern communities.

Montana was staying at the Crown Haven residence of Oceanna Scott on August 25, 2025, when the fire broke out. Scott and her three children managed to flee the burning structure, but they escaped with nothing but the clothes on their lives. Montana, trapped inside the single-story wooden home, could be heard crying out for help as desperate nearby neighbours scrambled to save him, smashing windows and hurling buckets of water in a frantic, futile attempt to douse the flames before emergency crews arrived.

That help was nearly an hour in coming. The nearest fire department in Cooper’s Town faced a 40 to 50-minute drive to reach the remote Crown Haven scene, and by the time firefighters pulled up to the property, the home had already been reduced to ash. Today, Montana’s family says the empty space the seventh-grader left behind feels just as raw as it did the day the fire broke out, especially as back-to-school season arrives.

“It’s been rough, especially for the whole family,” Jacqueline Duncombe, Montana’s aunt, told local media. “We’ve been mourning for a couple of days.” Duncombe explained that her own son shared an especially close bond with Montana, and had looked forward to another school year alongside his cousin. “Ain’t nothing change,” she said of the family’s ongoing grief. “It’s still the same. We still have the same feeling and the same emotion.”

The tragedy reignited long-simmering demands from Little Abaco residents for permanent fire safety infrastructure: a dedicated local fire truck and a network of functioning fire hydrants to cut down on deadly response times. While North Abaco took delivery of a new fire truck in January this year, Montana’s family says the progress comes at a devastating cost, noting the upgrade only came after their loved one’s preventable death.

Law enforcement launched an investigation into the fire within weeks of the tragedy, concluding by last September that the blaze was sparked by an electrical fault, with no evidence of foul play. Assistant Superintendent Stephen Rolle confirmed at the time that once the police probe was finalized, the case file would be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions to review whether negligence charges should be filed. The incident is also scheduled to be examined by the Coroner’s Court, leaving the family still waiting for formal closure one year on.