This is the distinctive tattoo inked on the neck of a man suspected to have brandished a gun at a Policeman.

Detective Chief Inspector Antoine Daniels of the Serious Crime Unit released further details of Friday's incident in Devonshire in the hope of gathering fresh information. He told a press conference yesterday that, contrary to earlier reports, the incident stemmed from a suspected burglary in the central area, not an armed robbery

A Police officer in a patrol vehicle spotted a motorcycle carrying two men who fitted a description circulated in relation to the burglary, prompting him pursue the motorcycle in a high speed chase around 1.30 p.m.

"The chase ended in the area of Vesey Street, Devonshire, where the passenger jumped from the cycle in an effort to avoid detention by Police and fell to the ground

"A brief struggle ensued between the passenger of the cycle and the pursuing Police officer, at which time the man brandished what is believed to be a firearm and pointed it at the officer," explained DCI Daniel

"He then fled into the Vesey Street marsh area. Although the man was wearing a crash helmet over his head at the time, the pursuing officer recognised that the offender had a very distinctive tattoo on one side of his neck in the form of four stars, one being larger than the other three

"The tattoo also had a signature beneath the star design.

The detective added that the Police are taking the incident particularly seriously given the number of recent shootings that have occurred in Bermuda, and a team of officers is working to apprehend the culprit.

The incident sparked a high-profile manhunt in the Vesey Street area on Friday afternoon, which saw officers use a crane to scan the area for the suspect.

DCIDaniels noted:"There has been a fair amount of assistance provided by members of the public in recent days, and on behalf of the Bermuda Police Service, I would like to publicly thank those persons.

"The suspect is described as between 5 ft 9 ins and 5 ft 11 ins, with dark brown skin, and aged between 17 and his mid 20s.

Quizzed about why it took the Police four days to circulate full details of the incident and a description of the suspect, the detective responded: "This information came to me late Friday evening after debriefing the officer. We thought we would give it a few days to apprehend the offender before we released it to the public

"Anyone who recognises the description or the tattoo should call the Serious Crime Unit on 299-4315 or the confidential CrimeStoppers hotline on 1-800-623-8477.