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Residents speak of hooded gunman firing indiscriminately

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Police officers on Rambling Lane in Pembroke on Saturday morning carrying out investigations after a 16-year-old boy was shot and injured the night before. Later on Saturday a single bullet was fired in the area and narrowly missed officers who were in the vicinity.

Residents have reported seeing a hooded gunman firing indiscriminately at a group of men sitting on a wall during the weekend’s spate of shootings.The gunman, who was hiding his face, is said to have fired at least 12 shots as he hurriedly walked down Rambling Lane, Pembroke, on Friday night.Frightened residents watched in horror from their windows as they saw a 16-year-old boy being hit in the shower of bullets.The injured teenager remains in the intensive care unit after being taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital by ambulance. His condition was last night described as “stable”.Police have confirmed the weekend’s three shootings, which all took place in Pembroke in less than 18 hours, could be linked.The shooting spree began with shots being fired on the corner of Cedar Avenue and Laffan Street in Pembroke at about 10.20pm on Friday. No injuries were reported.Just an hour-and-a-half later the teenager, who on-lookers believe was an innocent victim, was shot by a lone gunman at 11.50pm on Rambling Lane.The following day a gunman struck in the same Rambling Lane area and narrowly missed police officers who were just metres away investigating the previous day’s shooting. No one was injured when the single bullet was fired at about 1.30pm on Saturday.Residents say a gunman who was walking through the residents’ parking lot on Rambling Lane injured the teenager on Friday night. He was said to be walking down the hill towards Parsons Road.A 56-year-old woman said: “It didn’t look like he was firing at anyone. He was just shooting as he was walking.“Guys always sit off on the wall, there were so many bullets being fired, anyone could have been hit. The 16-year-old was just unlucky. More guys could have easily got hurt.”Another resident, who did not want to be named, said she heard eight shots being fired, then a further four more shots after a short pause.She said: “I was too scared to go outside but I looked out the window like everyone round here did.“The guy with the gun wasn’t running, just walking quickly. His face was covered by a dark-coloured hood.”The area was cordoned off and police remained on the scene overnight on Friday and all Saturday morning. Residents of Rambling Lane said they “woke up to police everywhere” and were told to leave their cars on Parsons Road.Then just 30 minutes after the police cordon was lifted another single bullet was fired in Rambling Lane. At about 1.30pm on Saturday the bullet was fired from behind where residents said plain-clothed police officers, who were wearing bulletproof vests, were sitting eating their lunch.The bullet is said to have hit and punctured the front tyre of a motorbike, which was parked next to the police officers.A 45-year-old resident said he didn’t see anyone running off even though he was sitting outside his Rambling Lane home with friends when the gun was fired on Saturday afternoon.He said: “They only took the police tape down at about 1pm, then there was another gunshot at about 1.30pm.“The police were still here, about two or three of them, they were sitting on the wall having their lunch, but they soon went running up the hill.“The gun was fired from up on the hill, it must have come from Fentons Drive way.“Residents were sitting off and the police were right there. It just goes to show that these gunmen aren’t afraid of anyone.”More than ten uniformed and plain-clothed officers remained in the Rambling Lane area on Saturday afternoon as forensics combed the scene for clues. They sealed off the track alongside the rows of peach-coloured terraced houses.Inspector Andy Morgan said the bullet was fired from “an unknown location” in the area of Ramblings Lane and Fentons Drive, but he would not comment on whether it was aimed at the police officers. He said “there’s nothing to suggest” the bullet was intended to scare officers.Insp Morgan, who was speaking from the scene on Saturday afternoon, confirmed most officers had returned to their duties at the time of Saturday’s shooting, but several plain-clothed police officers were still “talking to witnesses in the area.”Insp Morgan said he could not comment whether the officers were eating their lunch at the time, adding it was “too early to speculate” what had happened.Police would not respond to a list of questions sent to them yesterday by The Royal Gazette. A police spokesman would only say that high-visibility patrols would continue in and around the areas of the latest shootings.He said: “Forensic evidence has been collected from the respective scenes and investigators are continuing to conduct inquiries into the three firearm incidents.“It is too early to say whether these incidents are linked; however the possibility has not been ruled out.”Anyone who may have any information is asked to contact the Bermuda Police Service on 295-0011 or the independent confidential Crime Stoppers Bermuda hotline on 800-8477.

Photo by Glenn TuckerPolice reported to Rambling lane in Pembroke early Saturdy after a 16- year-old was shot and later on that afternoon after more reports of a fire arm being discharged.
Photo by Glenn TuckerPolice reported to Rambling lane in Pembroke on Saturdy after a 16-yrear-old was shot and later on that afternoon after more reports of a fire arm being discharged.