Residents have expressed their shock over a fatal stabbing that took place in their neighbourhood on Tuesday night.

A 23-year-old Sandys man died in the early hours of yesterday as a result of an altercation outside a home in Woodlawn Road, Sandys, between 10pm and 11pm, according to the Bermuda Police Service.

The death is being investigated as a murder.

One resident said crime problems had been ongoing in the White Hill field area for some time.

Sandys South MP Jamahl Simmons also said he had been hearing periodically from members of his constituency about concerns over growing crime.

The local woman, who has lived in the area for 50 years, said: “It’s disgusting — I don’t understand why these young people have no respect for life. I don’t want to be desensitised — these things are so frequent now. It’s always disturbing.”

A Police spokesman said that it is believed the victim received a stab wound to the body.

“The man was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital where he later died from his injuries,” he said.

Michael Dunkley, the Premier and Minister of National Security, said in a statement: “Our first thoughts are with the family of the young man who has so tragically lost his life.

“At this early stage in the investigation I join with others in calling for witnesses or anyone with information to contact the Police or the confidential Crime Stoppers hotline.

“We do not yet have the confirmed circumstances of this terrible crime and so our focus as a community must be on comforting his family in their loss and assisting the Police in their investigation.”

Mr Simmons first and foremost expressed sympathy for the family of the victim but added that the issue of crime in the area needed to be addressed. He said: “A person has lost their life and it must be traumatic for the family. We need to focus on making sure they are okay and that the perpetrator of the crime is brought to justice. From there we can go into the deeper issues.

“I have been hearing about crime in the area periodically but what I think is important is that the Bermuda Police Service knows where the criminals are and that they act. People have been complaining for some time about criminal activity in the area and, let’s be clear, a lot of it is not from people in the area — it is people coming from outside the area and causing disruption.

“It requires a group effort to deal with these issues, we need to work together with the Police.”

One small step for the area, he said, would be the creation of a club at White Hill field­­­, ­­a bone of contention with residents for many years.

He said: “The White Hill field needs a club house — that was something on the agenda under the PLP government. There are a number of different groups who are working towards trying to restore that because that builds a sense of stability, a sense of community and a sense that we are moving forward. But people don’t murder each other because of a lack of a club house, they murder people because there is something wrong in our community and that is where the focus needs to be.”

The Royal Gazette spoke to other area residents, who all asked not to be named.

“It was shocking to me,” one resident said. “I just came out this morning to go for my walk and saw all the police around.”

“This isn’t normal for this area — you get the occasional break-ins, but not this stuff,” he added.

A neighbour of the victim added: “This is not normal around here. This is a very quiet neighbourhood.”

He added that he did not hear anything during the night, but woke up to find a “whole lot of Police” in the area yesterday morning.

The neighbour said that, although he had not known the victim personally, they had spoken when passing each other in the street.

Another area resident said he came home at 12am to find police officers outside of the residence, in what he also described as a “normally quiet neighbourhood”.

Police are appealing for any witnesses, specifically anyone living in the Woodlawn Road area, to contact them on 295-0011 or the confidential Crime Stoppers Hotline on 1-800-8477.