A devoted father was dead, two teenagers were in hospital and four men were under arrest last night after Easter was marred by gun violence. Public Safety Minister David Burch will meet the Premier today to discuss recalling Parliament to tackle the carnage, while Acting Governor David Arkley urged tourists not to be put off Bermuda.

Two of the arrests were over the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Kimwandae Walker as he flew kites with his children on Good Friday at Victor Scott Primary School. The others were in relation to a large fight at the Royal Artillery Association, St. George's, in which an 18-year-old man was shot and a 19-year-old was stabbed.

Detectives revealed that there were between 30 and 60 people on the Victor Scott School field when two men drove up on a bike, got off and chased Mr. Walker, and fired numerous shots. They hope the murder may have been captured on film.

Superintendent Antoine Daniels said: "We're looking for people who can give us descriptions of the bike, descriptions of clothing, of helmets, whatever, to come forward and call the Police. More importantly, if any persons on that day had cameras or any video footage, to bring that forward to us. We're hoping to get some still shots or electronic shots of what may have happened."

Asked what could have motivated the perpetrators to kill a father in front of his children, Superintendent Antoine Daniels said: "I'm not going to go too far into the hypothesis of it, but as you know, we are having a lot of rival turf wars in Bermuda as we speak. And there's a lot of back-and forth vengeance going on. But we don't want to go into details as the investigation is still very new."

He was speaking at a joint press conference along with Public Safety Minister David Burch and Acting Governor David Arkley. Senator Burch said he'll meet the Premier to discuss measures to contain the violence.

"There's discussions starting today. You may find that Parliament may be recalled in order to implement them, but they haven't advanced beyond that stage yet. The Premier will be back in the country tonight and I'll be meeting with him in the morning," he said yesterday.

Sen. Burch has previously, and controversially, mooted the idea of a curfew to help keep a lid on the violence. He said yesterday that was still "included in the menu of options" but noted that Mr. Walker was killed in broad daylight so "that may not be the answer".

There have been seven gun murders in Bermuda in the past twelve months, and although there have been several arrests, no-one has been charged over any of them.

Acting Commissioner of Police Mike Jackman acknowledged yesterday: "Arresting people is just not good enough. We want to be able to prosecute the people involved in these crimes and for that we need the support of the public. To be able to successfully prosecute, we need forensic evidence and we also need eyewitness evidence. And we urge you, the community to be strong and brave and say enough is enough and support us as we seek to prosecute some of these people that we've arrested."

Acting Governor David Arkley said the violence should not put visitors off Bermuda as a vacation destination.

"The situation in Bermuda is vastly less dangerous and worrisome to tourists or visitors to this country than it is in most countries around the world. The numbers have increased and I can understand why the community is concerned. But those targeted are involved in gang related issues. They're targeting one another, not members of the public or visiting tourists," he stressed.

Meanwhile, anti-violence community group Rise Above, Bermuda, pledged to restage Friday's family event at Victor Scott this Saturday to enable children to start healing the scars of the horror they witnessed and "take back" the venue from the thugs. Dr. Lou Matthews from the group said the new family fun day will begin at noon, and there will be a Police presence to reassure people they are safe. "This is an opportunity to allow children to play and heal," he said. "Many children lost that opportunity on Friday."

And representatives of all three of Bermuda's political parties spoke yesterday of their horror at the Easter violence.

Acting Premier Paula Cox said: "I am sure that many of you this morning when the news started to circulate of another incident wanted to crawl back into bed, pull the sheets up and hope it was a bad dream. That's OK so long as it was just a passing thought.

"However the reality is that at no time more than now has your island needed you. Your family needs you. Your friends need you. Your community needs you. We need each other to stand up and be counted. All of us know this is not a quick fix but a multi pronged issue."–She thanked the Police for their hard work, and urged those of all races, creeds and colours to work together.

"Let's resolve to help in our communities. Let's resolve to assist grieving families, neighbourhoods and schools. Let's resolve to continue to provide our Bermuda Police Service with all credible information we have," she said. "Let's resolve to provide opportunities to those who need them and let's try not to judge but to demonstrate that we believe we owe a duty of care to our neighbours. Let's stand up and be counted. Bermuda our home deserves no less. "

Michael Dunkley of the United Bermuda Party, the Shadow Minister for Public Safety said: "No one in the community should be surprised by this latest vile example of thuggery in Bermuda. We have been drifting toward this kind of horror for years now. We are well past 'enough is enough'. It is fine to call for counselling and all the necessary support needed for the Police to do their job, but the immediate need is to get gangs to stop the shooting, and start breaking down the structures that support the people who are committing and perpetuating these acts."–Craig Cannonier of the Bermuda Democratic Alliance said: "This is another sad day in the history of Bermuda. Not only am I shocked that we as a people have allowed this type of violence to escalate but we now seem to have lost the will to eradicate it. It is not until we insist that this type of crime stop that it will truly be brought under control. We must respond with the same persistence in which these crimes continue to be acted out."

Anyone with information that could assist the investigation should call the Serious Crime Unit on 299-8115 or Crimestoppers on 800-8477. Counselling is also available for adults and children traumatised by the Good Friday shooting. Call the Bermuda Youth Counselling Services number at 296-7548. All calls will be treated as confidential.

• What do you think? Email news@royalgazette.bm or call 278-0137.