A night of brutal violence has resulted in the murder of an 18-year-old ? the fifth shooting victim on the Island in the past 90 days ? and another teenager fighting for life after being attacked with a bladed weapon in a separate incident

Efforts were last night being made to contact the mother of the murdered teenager who died in the early hours of Sunday after being gunned down while at the wheel of a car on Ord Road in Paget.

The mother of the former CedarBridge Academy student is reported to be overseas and unaware her son has become the Island's fifth shooting victim and the first gunshot fatality since an outbreak of gun crime started on April 24.

Less than two hours before the murder in Paget another teenager was critically injured in a separate attack involving a bladed weapon on Frog Lane in Devonshire.

That 19-year-old suffered serious cuts to his head and body while near his home. He was in a critical condition in the intensive care unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital last night.

A link between the two incidents has not been ruled out, nor has the possibility that the latest crimes might be connected to the unsolved triple shooting at Hamilton's Swinging Doors nightclub in April, or last month's drive-by shooting of a teenager near The Swizzle South Shore in Warwick.

With 28 officers involved in the investigation Police have moved to reassure the public that those involved in the latest crimes appear to be known to one another. However, Police Commissioner George Jackson has also warned that if members of the public with information about the incidents do not come forward and share what they know with investigators it is a recipe for "anarchy" and "people running wild".

It was shortly after 4 a.m. that gunfire was reported in Ord Road. Police and emergency services responded and discovered a white-coloured car crashed into a low wall near Paget Primary School.

The driver had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene. For the moment Police have declined to say how many bullets were fired, what type of gun was used, or whether other people were in the car at the time.

A Police cordon of the scene stretched half-a-mile along Ord Road, from Southcote Road to Harvey Road, as a large number of officers combed the road and surrounding area for clues yesterday.

The National Disaster Response Team vehicle was parked outside the Paget Primary School. A few metres away plastic cups had been used by officers to pinpoint and cover evidence on the road.

A woman who lived nearby claimed she had heard "a scream and a bang" and something that sounded like a gun being fired.

While a local man said: "This Island is too small for this sort of thing to happen. And we are all cousins after all."

The incident involving the stabbing of a 19-year-old occurred at Frog Lane, Devonshire at 2.40 a.m., according to Assistant Police Commissioner Bryan Bell.

He said: "It appears the victim, a Devonshire man, was attacked near his family home with a bladed weapon. He sustained severe lacerations to the head and a stab wound to his body.

"There has been some speculation as to links between the two incidents. Police are not ruling that out. All lines of inquiry remain open. We do not believe these to be random attacks but that some party or parties involved are known to one another.

"We are in difficulty if the public are not prepared to come forward and provide us with the information and ultimately people who are prepared to put the things they have seen into proper statements and to stand up and be counted.

"What you have is a number of incidents of violence involving a relatively small number of generally young men in the area. In terms of public confidence we recognise that we have put our best detectives on this case. We will leave no stone unturned."

Commissioner Jackson, expressing condolences to the family of the dead man and offering prayers for the critically hurt 19-year-old and his family, said: "The Bermuda Police Service has initiated a major crime response with additional uniformed assistance and an armed presence where necessary to augment our normal Police response to deal with these critical incidents.

"I'm now appealing to the public to get involved. No longer can we remain silent. These incidents affect us all and we must work together to identify causes and find solutions."

When asked if the under-manned Bermuda Police Service might seek outside help with the investigations, Mr. Jackson said: "If people within our community are not willing to help then no amount of outside help or assistance is going to change the outcome of an investigation.

"We have to remember that those who witnessed these two incidents have a civic duty to perform. Failing to perform a civic duty results in anarchy and people running wild. Hence, I ask for the assistance of the public."

The possibility of a gun amnesty was ruled out for the time-being by Mr. Bell. He said: "At this moment in time one of the dangers of a gun amnesty is that you could maybe make it impossible for prosecution to be taken against the murderer on Sunday.

"So while it is something that remains a strategy to be looked at to try to address this problem of rising violence, I think in this case I would not be recommending it at this moment in time."

Witnesses or anyone who saw anything suspicious in the Ord Road area on Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday, or anyone who saw anything suspicious during those times in the Palmetto Road, Devon Lane, and Frog Lane area of Devonshire is asked to call either the serious crime unit on 299-4315, the main Police number 295-0011 or the confidential Crimestoppers number 1-(800) 623-8477.