Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith yesterday appealed for calm following the brutal shooting of student Shaundae Jones at the weekend.

Mr. Smith said additional Police units would be out in force, along with the 40 officers that were working on the investigation, should young people be considering acts of retribution.

But he urged members of the public to inform the Police if they heard of any planned incidents, and he reminded young people that the possession and use of firearms would be dealt with severely.

"It is still too early to assess whether there is a threat of retribution," said the Commissioner. "We have to be mindful that retribution acts do occur."

Mr. Smith said it was better for Police to act on intelligence, and said if the Police were given evidence or information, it would take them seriously.

He said officers would react on fact, rather than emotional outbursts, but said they were monitoring the situation.

"I think the time is for calm and restraint in the light of what we have seen - a very tragic incident where another young Bermudian has lost his life," said the Commissioner.

"It clearly is a time for calm and restraint. It's also a time to remind the community of the very severe penalties for the possession and use of firearms.

"We make a plea to the community to provide us with information that will lead to the recovery and removal of firearms from our streets."

And the Commissioner said he was monitoring the situation involving weapons and would continue to talk to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Governor on whether Bermuda should organise a weapons amnesty.

Mr. Jones, 20, of Smith's Avenue, Warwick, and a full-time student at Bermuda College, was shot in the chest at point blank range as he sat in a car outside Club Malabar in Dockyard at about 3 a.m. on Sunday.

His friends immediately took him to Port Royal Fire Station in Southampton, where they were met by an ambulance, but Mr. Jones died before arrival at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the murder, but Police reiterated their appeal for people with information to come forward.

Assistant Commissioner Carlton Adams said Police had been furnished with a number of leads, which they were pursuing, but he said they were keeping an open mind as to why Mr. Jones was gunned down.

He said there was nothing to suggest the murder at the weekend was linked to the murder of Tekle Zion Mallory, who was stabbed to death outside the Ice Queen take-away in Paget in July 2001.

One of Mr. Jones' best friends, Jahni Bean, was charged and acquitted of the murder of Mr. Mallory in January this year, as was Mr. Bean's cousin Quincy Stanley Brangman.

The acquittals led to an angry and emotional outburst from Mr. Mallory's family and friends.

Mr. Jones was at the Ice Queen at the time of the Mallory murder, and was called to give evidence at the trial by the prosecution.

Whether or not his involvement in that case had anything to do with his own murder at the weekend is not yet officially known, but Mr. Jones' mother, Marsha, said she personally believed it did.

She said her son had been threatened for testifying in the case, and she said she had feared for his safety ever since.

Mr. Adams said: "We are not linking (the two murder cases).

"I want to discourage speculation along those lines. We are keeping an open mind on this investigation and are pursuing leads as and when they become available, but we are not drawing any conclusions as to the causes."

Mr. Smith said although he had placed heavy resources on the investigation, Police and prosecution lawyers would only be successful if witnesses were prepared to come forward and give evidence in court.

He said: "We need information about acts of criminality. Part of that is standing up in a court of law and giving evidence. That means that people are required to cooperate with us for us to have a successful outcome.

"All we can do is ask people with information to co-operate with us."

Mr. Smith said there were adequate laws in place to deal with intimidation, and said if officers were told that witnesses had been threatened, then action could be taken."

Anyone with information about Sunday morning's shooting, or anyone in the Dockyard area at about 3 a.m., should call Somerset Police on 234-1010, or CrimeStoppers, where they can offer information anonymously, on 1-800-623-8477.