Father shoots daughters, commits suicide

PAIN IN SANDY BAY

As police officers turned over the bodies of 33-year-old Tom Dick Sutherland and his six-year-old daughter Rosanna, the gasps and moans that emitted from the hundreds of persons standing on Big Beach at Sandy Bay Wednesday morning drowned out the sounds of the waves that have been lashing against the shores for thousands of years.{{more}}

The wails and tears from mothers and children and the cries of ‘shame’ could be heard along the usual question: WHY?

At around 8:30 that morning, Sutherland also known as ‘Dickie’, picked up his daughters Kimberly Duvanique 9, and six-year-old Rosanna, affectionately known as ‘Bebe’ from the Sandy Bay Anglican School and led them to a secluded area on the beach. The girls lived with their grandmother Roslyn Shallow in Georgetown.

When on the beach, it is alleged that Sutherland made a call to his estranged common-law wife Wandalyn Shallow, who works in Canouan.



Shortly after that Sutherland shot both girls in their heads, he then put a bullet in his own head.

As her sister and father lay dead, young Kimberly picked herself up and ran to some of her school mates who had witnessed the event.

The youths, not much older than Kimberly, helped her to the main road where she was taken to the area clinic and then rushed to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

As the hours rolled on, it became a little clearer as to why Sutherland may have committed such an act.

Sutherland and Shallow, who were renting a house in the north east coast town of Georgetown, were said to be going through a difficult time in their relationship.

The relationship reached a stage where it is alleged that last week, Sutherland traveled to Canouan where Shallow worked, and declared his intention to kill her.

It is alleged that Sutherland proclaimed that if he did not get Shallow, he would kill his children. This was not reported to the police.

Immediately upon hearing of the tragedy, Shallow traveled to the mainland to be with Kimberly who is said to be in stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit at the Hospital.

Sutherland usually visited his children at school, bringing them snacks on occasions, and consulting with teachers as to their progress and behaviour.

Police are still investigating the matter, and up to press time a post mortem examination had not been carried out on the bodies.