Olympic sprinter Shavez Hart was shot and killed trying to break up a fight outside a club in the Bahamas.
The tragic shooting took place in Mount Hope, North Abaco, nearly 200 kilometres north of Nassau early Saturday, Royal Bahamas Police told TMZ.
According to the outlet, a group of males got into a physical altercation in the parking lot when one male left and returned with a gun and began to open fire.
Hart was hit in the chest.
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He was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries — just days before his 30th birthday.
“The Olympic family is saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Shavez Hart, a proud native of Abaco,” the Bahamas Olympic Committee said in a statement. “He was always very humble, yet proud and determined to offer the very best of himself for the sake of country.”
Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis addressed the shooting on social media.
“On behalf of my family and the people of The Bahamas, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of Shavez Hart,” he tweeted. “As a country, we’ve been blessed to have had an amazing athlete carry our flag worldwide.”
Hart competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for the Bahamas.
He was the third fastest Bahamian sprinter all time in the 100m and was part of the 4x400m relay team that won silver at the 2016 NCAA Indoor World Championship.
Pat Henry, his coach at Texas A&M, called the athlete’s death “tragic.”
“Shavez Hart was of course one of our finest athletes ever, but he was one of the kindest people I have met, and such a soft-spoken man,” he said in a statement. “Words can’t describe the loss that the Aggie track & field family is feeling. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Police told the outlet a suspect has been arrested.
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