a shooting outside a popular eatery in Grand Bahama on Saturday left one man dead and pushed the murder count in the nation’s second city to seven so far this year.

Up to press time Sunday police were withholding the identity of the victim pending notification of next of kin.

Chief Supt. Basil Rahming said it was around 4:05a.m. Saturday when the Duty Officer at the Police Dispatch Centre in Freeport received a telephone call, informing police that a young man had just been shot and had collapsed in the vicinity of the Pepper Pot Take-Away Restaurant on East Sunrise Highway.

Mr. Rahming said uniformed and plainclothes police units were dispatched to investigate.

"Upon arrival at that location, the information was confirmed as officers found the lifeless body of a dark male, clad in camouflage trousers, a white T-shirt and a pair of black shoes, lying face down on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and back," he said.

Mr. Rahming said a preliminary investigation revealed that the nation’s 47th murder victim was at the take-away restaurant, along with a number of other persons, when he became embroiled in a heated argument with three other young men reportedly over a woman.

"This quickly escalated into an altercation, during which one of the young men reportedly pulled out a handgun and fired multiple gunshots at the deceased, hitting him about the head and body, right in front of the other shocked patrons," Mr. Rahming said.

After being shot, Mr. Rahming said the victim reportedly ran towards the car wash at the northwestern section of the parking lot, where he collapsed to the ground and died.

After police had processed the crime scene, Mr. Rahming said the young man’s body was transported to the morgue at the Rand Memorial Hospital, where an autopsy was to be performed.

He said Central Detective Unit officers have launched an intensive investigation into this matter.