Police have interviewed more than 100 people in connection with the gun slaying of national footballer Shaki Crockwell who investigators believe could have been lured to his death.

Mr. Crockwell, 25, was shot in the back of neck on the evening of Friday, August 24 as he walked along on the Railway Trail near Loyal Hill in Devonshire.

Asked whether the victim might have been tricked into going to that secluded spot a spokesman said: "That is being pursued as a line of inquiry."

And at a press conference yesterday Supt. Randy Liverpool said Police wanted to hear more from friends and associates of the murdered man.

"We believe that he was meeting someone at that location when he was found. We believe some friends or associates might be able to assist us with that information. We appeal for them to come forward."

Supt. Randy Liverpool said Police were very pleased with the response from the public for information.

"The investigation is progressing well so far but it is a very complex inquiry and we have a lot of work to do and ways to go."

Even details the public might think insignificant might be a vital clue to help the case, said Supt. Liverpool. He urged the public to come forward with information about people or vehicles entering or leaving the area on the night of the murder.

Chief Inspector Tracey Adams said the team of 20 detectives were focusing on six persons of interest.

He said: "We have taken over a hundred statements and interviewed just as many persons. We have interviewed and forensically processed six persons of interest ¿ they are people we believe have relavant information to the inquiry."

Police took issue with a report in yesterday's Royal Gazette on the Crockwell murder. That report included a Police source who said drugs or revenge could have been the motive for the murder which could have been done by a hired hitman.

Police did not explain what element of the report they disagreed with at the press conference or when challenged afterwards.

And Supt. Liverpool also thanked the press for its help in assisting the inquiry. "You have to realise it takes the press, the Police and the public to work together to have a successful investigation of this matter. That is the only way you can make the quality of life better in Bermuda."

Supt Liverpool refused to say whether forensics had helped establish what calibre of bullet killed Mr. Crockwell or whether it had been found. Police have yet to work out how far away the murderer was when the shot was fired but blood spatter patterns and gun powder forensic evidence is now being collected.

Mr. Crockwell, a father of two, played for the Boulevard, the Bermuda Hogges and the national side, and was wearing a protective vest when he was murdered suggesting he knew someone was out to attack him. He died sometime between 9 and 10 p.m.

However his father Danny Crockwell reacted angrily to information in yesterday's Royal Gazette story.

He said: "It's all lies. I raised him, I know what his lifestyle was, the Police don't. They are not coming to me with that information. They are not giving me nothing. I am hurting."

And he said he had no idea why his son was shot and he said the protective vest his son was wearing was actually a weighted vest to help him build upper body strength for his football.