A 22-year-old man injured in the leg in a drive-by shooting in Hamilton may have been the victim of a gang-related retaliatory attack.

Prince Barrington Edness, from Pembroke, was recovering in hospital last night after being shot at by a gunman on a motorcycle as he stood on Princess Street on Monday night.

The incident comes little more than a week after 18-year-old Kellon Hill was stabbed to death.

Detectives are understood to be investigating claims that Monday night's shooting, which happened shortly before 9.30 p.m., was a revenge attack for another incident involving gun activity earlier this month in the St. Monica's Road/42nd Street area of Pembroke. Locals have told Police that the violence stems from tensions between the so-called 42nd Street and Parkside gangs and that further attacks could be on the cards.

One source, who asked not to be named, told The Royal Gazette that Mr. Edness, who pleaded guilty five years ago to inflicting grievous bodily harm on a policeman, was usually to be found sitting on an upturned milk crate on Princess Street.

"He's the king of there in the middle of the afternoon. He's an attractive young man but this is his life. He would know well who did this."

It is understood that Mr. Edness is the nephew of former Island soccer star Patrick Edness, who was shot dead aged 40 in Kingston, Jamaica, ten years ago.

A business owner in the area, who also asked to remain anonymous, heard four shots ring out on Monday night. "I ran outside once it was stopped. Everybody had hidden behind the various vehicles to get out of the way.

"Then fellows emerged and one guy was hopping, putting on a brave face. He got in a car down by Snowy's."

The man said he had heard the shooting was in response to an incident the night before when "somebody was slapped up".

Residents and other business owners in the area told this newspaper they feared innocent people could get caught in the crossfire if the violence didn't stop. They said a group of youths not thought to be from the immediate vicinity regularly congregated on the corner of Princess Street and Elliott Street, opposite a block of Government housing and underneath a sign marked "no loitering, no soliciting".

One 40-year-old mother said she was shaken by the shooting. "I won't be sitting outside like I normally do.

"I have little children and I always sit out evenings with the children when the sun has gone down. Thank God we weren't out last night. It's scary because we could have been."

Another woman, aged 50, said: "It's just giving Princess Street a bad name and they are young people that don't even live round here."

A female worker said she always walked past the corner with her ten-year-old daughter but was now nervous.

"Anything could have happened. The bullet could have just hit anybody's child, it could have hit a baby."

Rich Lathan, executive director of Keep Bermuda Beautiful, which is based in Princess Street, said he would often see the youths sitting outside as he left for the evening.

"I'm more concerned, not for my personal safety, but for these kids,"he said. "They have got so much future and it's kind of sad.

"I usually always say to them 'be safe' when I leave just because the potential is always there."

Another business owner, in his 50s, said he would cross the street to avoid the youths."

They congregate there on evenings maybe from about 4 or 5 p.m. until about 10 or 11 p.m. They are just hanging there."

He said he worried the shooting could affect business.

"People, if they hear about things like that, they'll avoid Princess Street and, at the same time, it's not anyone from Princess Street doing these things. It's people from elsewhere."

Dozens of armed Police officers descended on Princess Street on Monday night after receiving reports of gun shots being fired shortly before 9.30 p.m.

They taped off parts of Princess, Elliott, Dundonald, Ewing and Court Streets and used flashlights to search the area as residents looked on.

A statement from Bermuda Police Service yesterday said a 22-year-old Pembroke man sustained a non-life threatening leg injury and was being treated at KEMH.

"Initial reports suggest that a motorcycle entered Princess Street from Dundonald Street and rode past the victim, who was standing with a group of individuals at the time," said the statement. "Shots were fired, the 22-year-old Pembroke man was injured and the motorcycle and its occupants made good their escape towards the Ewing Street area."

Yesterday morning, the area was no longer cordoned off but gloved Police officers remained at the scene searching for evidence.

Mr. Edness was still in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital last night, where he was said to be in a stable condition on a general ward.

Anyone who witnessed what happened or has any information about the incident should call Police on 299-4315 or the confidential Crime Stoppers hotline on 1-800-623-8477.