FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- The son of a prominent Freeport businessman is dead after police say officers were forced to open fire on him, moments after he allegedly unleashed a violent cutlass attack on his brother, father and three others early Thursday morning.One of the victims, a male child, had to be airlifted to New Providence for further medical attention.

The tragedy, which unfolded at #139 Dampier Drive and ended at the rear of an apartment complex at Sommerville Drive not far away, has rocked the two tightly-knit communities.

At sunrise, bloodied footprints at one scene and a bullet-riddled back wall and a pool of blood on the second floor of an apartment complex at another scene, were all tell tale signs of the horrifying hours before.

Up to press time yesterday, all five victims remained hospitalized.

Police have identified the suspect as 26-year-old Michael Darville.

According to Acting Assistant Commissioner Emrick Seymour, the police responded after receiving a call shortly after 5 a.m. on Thursday about an incident at the Dampier Drive residence.

"Investigations revealed that a family member of that particular residence had reportedly chopped two other family members about the body with a cutlass," he said.

On leaving his home, police say Darville allegedly ventured across the street to a neighbor's house where three members of that family, a female and two male children, were reportedly chopped about the body with a cutlass before the suspect fled the scene on foot.

"In searching for the suspect, the police would have engaged him a short time later at an apartment complex on Sommerville Drive," he said.

Seymour said the officers made numerous attempts to arrest Darville, who allegedly used a screwdriver he had in his hand to threaten the officers.

ACP Seymour said the suspect refused to put the screwdriver down.

"They ended up at the location where he kept threatening the officers and said he wasn't putting down the screwdriver," ACP Seymour said.

"So the officers, being in fear of their lives, had no other choice, after the suspect would have thrown an object at the officers which hit one of them in the head."

According to Seymour, that object was a floor fan, and the suspect then threw a concrete block at the officer, with a screwdriver in hand.

It was then, the Grand Bahama police chief said, that the officers drew their service revolvers and fired on the suspect, fatally wounding him.

Up to press time, police were unsuccessful in determining a motive for the attacks, but said they had been called to the residence before on another occasion.

"This individual had a history of irrational behavior where the police had to be called several times to deal with the suspect," Seymour said.

Acting ACP Seymour said he has met with some of the family members of the dead man and offered his condolences.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family members who lost their loved ones, as well as to those who were injured," he said.

MP for Marco City Zhivargo Laing visited with residents close to the situation Thursday afternoon."At the moment my focus is on the folks who have been injured, a number of whom are very well known to me," he said.

Laing said he was attempting to get counseling for the families of the victims and those who witnessed the turn of events.

"There had been a number of persons who observed either the attacks, or the shooting who had been close to that situation, and so I am trying to organize support for them in terms of counseling for the adults and for the kids, and so we're reaching out to the professionals, either in terms of pastors or the counselors who are able to speak to them," he said.

Police remained in the area for the better part of Thursday continuing investigations and cleaning up what was left of the bloodied scene.

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