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The brazen shooting of a pump attendant at Esso Gas Station South Beach, on Tuesday night has left many shocked, fearful, and frustrated.

The business’ surveillance camera capturing the bold evening attack, is terrifying, especially for customers of the station who were present when the gunfire erupted across from the East Street South police station.

“If this doesn’t show criminals have no respect for law and order then I don’t know what to say,” Shannon Darville said.

Sherry Cleare said she had no idea someone was shot. “This is so sad. We were right there and didn’t hear a thing. That pump attendant was so unaware.”

The video shows a slim, lone gunman dressed in a black hooded jacket, walking from the side of the building toward the last pump. He then shoots the attendant who is serving a customer and pumping gas into their vehicle. After what seems like a single shot, the attendant drops to the ground and the gunman dashes off in another direction toward the road, disappearing out of view.

Police said he got into a waiting white Japanese-modeled vehicle.

“The heart of man has waxed cold. These are the last days,” Yolanda Fountain lamented.

“I frequent that station. At 8 pm, plenty of people are about then, that could also be hurt,” Shirley Mireault said.

Authorities said the victim is a 17-year-old boy who remains in stable condition.

“Capital punishment please, because just how he walked up and shot that man, he needs to be walking in the back of the jail getting deal with…This is ridiculous. Someone in that car could have gotten hurt,” Davianna Christine said.

This comes after a spree of homicides and shooting incidents, since the beginning of the year. The spree has awakened the call for stricter measures against criminals like capital punishment and revoking bail.

Already, 17 people have been killed for the year.

Though the murder rate is seemingly rising in the Bahamas, rarely are crimes directed toward foreigners.

On Wednesday around 8 pm, a German man was shot and killed in Kemp’s Bay, South Andros, while another German national was wounded during the attack.

Here’s a look at what we know, and still don’t know about the attack:

How it unfolded

The masked gunman approached three German men who were outside of their residence in Kemp’s Bay. He flaunted a gun, startling the men. They then ran inside the house but the gunman shot in the direction of the men, striking two of them.

The gunman ran away.

The wounded men were transported to the local clinic in the area but one man died. The other victim, shot in the shoulder, was airlifted to Nassau for medical help. His condition is serious.

Motive remains unknown

The suspect is on the loose. It is not known if he is a resident of the Kemp’s Bay settlement, if he is a resident of another settlement and traveled to Kemp’s Bay or if he traveled from Nassau to the island to commit the crime.

Authorities have not provided a motive for the shooting, or whether the attack was a random act. But detectives from Nassau will travel to the island on Thursday to investigate what happened.

Authorities did not reveal the name of the victims and whether or not the men were engaged in a project on the island, only that they lived at a “summer residence.”

Fears of safety growing

Andros is typically a serene island and free of crime, unlike Nassau.

The killing sent shock waves through the community and condemnation from its member of parliament. It underscores fears that violence is directed at family islands and foreign nationals, as Nassau grapples with the increase of guns and murders.

MP Leon Lundy said he is “shocked,” “angered” and “grieved.”

Despite a force bolstered with officers from the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Turks and Caicos continue to grapple with crime, including a triple murder in which a 3-year-old boy was killed.

The British territory reached out to the Bahamas for assistance when 15 killings in five weeks rocked the British Territory. But has much improved since the arrival of 24 Bahamian police officers?

The latest murders occurred early Tuesday morning when a man, woman and child were discovered in a car in the Dock Yard area. The fourth victim, a 7-year-old girl who survived the attack, was found bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound. She is receiving medical care for her injuries.

Turks and Caicos Commissioner of Police Trevor Botting said his team and officers from the Bahamas and UK are investigating the “vicious, barbaric act” committed by the “heartless” criminals.

“They do not care about life,” he said.

On Monday, a man was found dead in the area of Parker’s Yard, Blue Hills, killed by gunfire.

And Sunday, a woman was shot while driving her vehicle in Millenium Heights, Blue Hills. Another vehicle stopped her and shot into her car. She was treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

Last week Saturday, another man was shot in the Dock Yard area. He survived the gun attack and was treated for the injuries.

And last Wednesday, one man died on the scene where he and another man were found bleeding profusely suffering from gunshot wounds in the vicinity of James Stubbs, Leeward Highway. The surviving victim sustained injuries to the left side of his body.

In October when a US tourist was killed while in a vehicle returning from an excursion, Botting summed it up that the killings were connected to an ongoing gang feud.

As the British territory’s murder rate spirals out of control, Botting met with Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander on Saturday in the Bahamas, to further deepen relations with the RBPF, he said.

Turks and Caicos’ murder count now stands at 32 for the year.

Photo credit: TCIPF