A charity that supports people affected by bereavement urged the community to show compassion and be mindful of the victims of trauma.

The Gina Spence Programme invited anyone who had witnessed or was affected by traumatic events to contact its team for grief and loss support.

It came after two people were shot dead last week at the Legends sports bar in Somerset.

Three people were injured in the incident and Jasmine Smith, 32, and Shaquan Williams, 29 — named by police on Monday — were killed.

Gina Spence-Virgil, a grief recovery specialist and founder of the GSP, offered condolences to the families of the victims.

She said the charity has been in touch with representatives of families of each of the victims.

“We cautiously approach because sometimes people do not want anyone to speak to them during that time,” she added.

“It is a very difficult experience. We’ve been working with victims for the past 15 years, especially as it pertains to homicides.”

Ms Spence-Virgil said that sometimes people published information or the names of victims before the police made them known publicly.

She added: “It could be very harmful to the family. We ask people to be very cognisant of how they are sharing the information, pertaining specifically to the victims and their families.”

Ms Spence-Virgil urged anyone who was in the vicinity of Legends at the time of the shooting to contact the charity, so that they could help to address any trauma they may have suffered.

She said: “We are available to the community and usually when there is a situation where the victim has a child, we come out and we wrap all of our services around the child.

“We do those intricate pieces that help the family to manoeuvre through the very difficult pain of losing a loved one so tragically.”

The charity provides services to 30 families through its champions programme.

Ms Spence-Virgil said there were 107 children treated for the impact that gang violence could have on families.

She said: “They are all part of our database and what happens is that when there is another shooting, sometimes they are re-triggered.

“Sometimes they are feeling unsafe, sometimes it is bringing back memories of what had happened to them.”

Ms Spence-Virgil said the workload of the charity could be extensive to ensure “all bases are being covered” and the needs of affected families were met.

She added that young victims did not age out of the programme but rather, their needs changed overtime.

The oldest “champion” supported by the charity is a 30-year-old who was taken under its wings when he was a teenager.

Over the past 15 years — the lifetime of the charity — Ms Spence-Virgil said, she has noticed a change in the demographics of criminals and the types of crimes being committed.

She explained: “It comes in waves, one year we would have shootings back to back and then it would quieten down.

“Then after a year it would ease off, then it comes back and then it went from shooting murders to stabbing murders.

“What we are seeing now is that those who are being convicted are much younger versus 15 years ago.”

The GSP has a roster of clinicians who are spread out to ensure it provides care evenly to trauma victims.

Ms Spence-Virgil and another grief recovery specialist work in tandem with a doctor and two clinicians as well as two councillors on behalf of the charity.

Police on Tuesday said a 23-year-old male suspect had been arrested at the weekend in connection with the Legends bar attack, while three others were described as “in hiding”.

A group of four people wearing crash helmets were caught on footage released by police a day after the incident in which shots were fired “indiscriminately” at patrons.

Police believed one suspect was injured at the scene, potentially by gunfire.

Officers are keen to talk to anyone in the western area on the night of the shooting who saw two men on two separate bikes on Somerset Road.

Witnesses can contact the BPS on 295-0011, the serious crime unit on 247-1739, call 911 in urgent scenarios, or use the anonymous and independent Crime Stoppers hotline on 800-8477.

The community reporting portal can also be used at portal.police.bm.

• For more information and support, contact the Gina Spence Programme on 296-0016

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