Attorney and former Member of Parliament for Tall Pines, Don Saunders was shot and killed at a business established in the Gambier Village area on Wednesday night. The incident was reportedly an armed robbery gone wrong.
Commissioner of Police, Clayton Fernander was on the scene where he briefed members of the press. He said, “shots were fired after a short while the patrons who ran to the front realized that one of the adult males were not seen and when they came back to check they me the lifeless body of an adult male lying face down.”
The Commissioner added of the crime, “it don’t appear that nobody was a target. It don’t appear to be nothing political at this time but it appears as though armed robbery is the motive.”
Saunders was a member of the Free National Movement (FNM) where he served as a deputy chairman at the time of his passing. Several prominent members of the FNM were on the scene including former Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for Killarney, the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis and Leader of the Opposition, FNM Party Leader and Member of Parliament for Marco City, the Hon. Michael Pintard.
Pintard spoke to reporters on the scene saying, “as the family is grieving we ask that people just be sensitive to what they are going through. We are trusting that the system is going to work.”
Dr. Minnis, representative for the community where the homicide occurred, revealed that the installation of surveillance cameras had commenced in the area. “This area fortunately has been covered with CCTV (Closed Circuit Television). This area and Tropical and its spreading throughout the communities.”
The FNM leader described Saunders as “a very popular Bahamian who means a lot to so many different communities particularly because of his own personal outreach in this community. His assistance of so many persons, providing pro bono work to assist them through their own struggles.”
Saunders’ foster father and rector of St. Agnes Anglican Church, Archdeacon Keith Cartwright administered last rites for the deceased on the scene.
Donald L. Saunders was 49 years old at the time of his death.
