Three arrested after Mount Hill shooting
Three people were arrested last night after shots were fired on Mount Hill Road in Pembroke
No one was reported to have been injured. Soon after the incident, a large number of police were seen heading west at the Paget traffic lights. The suspects were apprehended in Warwick and taken into police custody.
Officers responded at 4.23pm to a report of shots fired in the area of Mount Hill and Overlook Hill.
Mount Hill Road was blocked off at both ends. Residents were being turned away as they arrived at the street, opposite the Berkeley Institute. Mount Hill was reopened at the Berkeley Road side just before 5.30pm, although no one was allowed beyond Swans Bay Hill.
A resident said he heard what sounded like six shots fired.
It is believed that the scene of the shooting has been the site of police activity in the past.
The incident happened a few houses up the hill from the junction with Twin Lane Place and the junction with Swans Bay Hill.
A mother in the area, who had come to collect her young child from a minder, said the babysitter had also reported hearing shots fired.
“I got my son from the sitter and she told me she had heard the shots,” said the mother, who wished to remain anonymous.
“She was on Mount Hill, I had to walk to get my son. She [the babysitter] was very frightened. I am OK, but poor her; I think it’s the result of the other shootings. It is quite a shame for Bermuda.”
One resident of Mount Hill, who lives near the junction with Berkeley Road, said he did not hear the gunshots but was not surprised at which house was involved, saying police had been there on a few occasions.
“I didn’t hear anything, no gunshots,” he added. “I was out the back [of my house].”
Acting Detective Chief Inspector Dave Greenidge said several rounds were fired and that it was too early to say if the incident was related to Tuesday’s shootings.
Also on the scene, Chief Inspector Na’imah Astwood said that the Bermuda Police Service was “very resolute” about stopping gun violence and had a “no tolerance approach to this”.
She added that extra police personnel would be working in the coming days.
On Tuesday, a day that was meant to celebrate and remember the Island’s war veterans and deceased, calm was interrupted when a gun was fired outside the National Sports Centre.
Football’s Dudley Eve Trophy final between Dandy Town and Somerset Trojans had only just ended before the incident in which no one was injured, but just over two hours later four men were shot later outside Somerset Cricket Club. They were all taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital but their wounds were not life-threatening.
Yesterday’s incident came approximately half an hour before the Bermuda Football Association responded to the events of Tuesday with a press statement that called for an end to the violence in the wake of an emergency Executive Committee meeting last night.
The association was particularly disappointed that the disturbance came at the end of an exciting game of football in which both teams were said to have competed in a sporting manner.
“We urge people to bring an end to gun violence and gang violence,” the statement read. “We encourage such people to hand in any firearms, to declare an end to such violence, to come sit at the same table with us to work out a peace plan, to shake hands, to be free to travel up and down the Island and to love and respect each other as brothers and sisters of our beautiful Bermuda.”
Police are keen to speak with anyone who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously in the area. Chief Insp Astwood asked Bermuda to “be strong, have courage, call the police, call Crime Stoppers”.
Chief Insp Astwood added: “If you know something, say something. We want to keep Bermuda safe.”
Residents with information are urged to contact the Serious Crime Unit on 247-1739, confidential Crime Stoppers hotline on 800-8477 or the main police line on 295-0011.