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Victim had no known gang links

David Clarke

Police believe David Clarke Jr was the intended target of the men who shot him dead but they're still not sure why he was murdered.More than six months after the 26-year-old was killed in a drive-by attack in Devonshire, detectives have yet to figure out the motive for the crime.Detective Chief Inspector Nicholas Pedro, the head of special investigations at Bermuda Police Service's Serious Crime Division, said: “We have not been able to confirm any links to gangs. The motive remains undetermined.“We are trying to determine if there was an incident that occurred either immediately before or some time in the past that may have prompted someone to target Mr Clarke. The investigation has not borne out the motive conclusively yet.“I think the only thing we can say is that we have not been able to see, either side of his murder, either a precursor or a post-cursor event that we could say was linked to his shooting, that we know of.“It appears to have been a one-off, although the investigation may prove otherwise in the future.”Mr Clarke, a self-employed clothes importer, spent the evening of Sunday, April 17, socialising with friends at the Mid Atlantic Boat Club on North Shore Road in Devonshire.He left on his white Yamaha motorcycle and was heading west towards his apartment at 126 North Shore Road at about 10.20pm, when two assailants pulled up alongside him on a light-coloured bike.Detective Inspector Peter Charlemagne, who is leading the murder inquiry, said: “The pillion passenger was wearing a pastel-coloured shirt or jacket and the rider was dressed all in black. They both wore dark helmets with full face visors.“They pulled up next to him. They were riding parallel with him. The passenger fired two or three shots to his upper body.“The suspects rode off and they turned left on Mission Lane, which is about ten metres from where it happened. They travelled south.”The officer added: “People in the neighbourhood found him. He was attended to by the witnesses. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The ambulance had arrived [but] he died just outside his house.“The shooting must have happened maybe about ten metres from his house.”He said the victim was a single man, believed to be the father of twins who live overseas, who wasn't known to be affiliated with any gang. But he added: “We believe Mr Clarke was the intended target.”Det Ch Insp Pedro said the murder was carried out on a well-lit stretch of road at a time when plenty of people would have been using it.“We have confirmed that a number of people would have been travelling either in the same or opposite direction,” he said. “People in the area would have seen something.”Det Insp Charlemagne urged anyone who saw the victim that day, especially in the evening, to contact police if they have not already done so.“Did they notice anyone he spoke to?” he said of those who were at the boat club that night. “By the time we got to the club, people had left. There may have been people we haven't spoken to.“There may be persons who would have a limited piece of information and would not see it as significant.”He said his team also wanted to talk to witnesses who saw anyone matching the description of the suspects in the vicinity.“It is believed that the suspects may have travelled along North Shore Road, between Barkers Hill roundabout and Black Watch Pass area, in the evening prior to the incident and may have driven through the smaller roads that access North Shore Road between these points.”Two men were arrested a couple of weeks after the murder and bailed pending further inquiries but no one has yet been charged. The murder weapon, a .38 calibre gun, has not been recovered by police.* The final part of our series on Bermuda’s unsolved gang murders will appear in The Royal Gazette on Monday, November 14, when we’ll focus on the May 2011 shooting of Jason Smith. We want to speak to anyone affected by the fatal shootings on the Island since May 2009. If you’d like to share your story or comment on the series, call senior reporter Sam Strangeways on 278-0155 or e-mail sstrangeways@royalgazette.bm.