Over the past few days, IThe Royal Gazette$ has received numerous messages of support for Kellon Hill's family and suggestions about how Bermuda can deal with its gang problems.

Here are some contributions from our readers, politicians, community and church leaders and men and women off the street:

Premier Ewart Brown:, "It is difficult to articulate the shock and grief so many of us feel about this tragic loss of young life. Kellon's family will need the support of us all and I think our community stands ready to give it. Kellon, his family and his friends are in all of our thoughts and prayers."

Deputy Premier Paula Cox:"It is difficult to find words that can provide comfort to a family and a community that feels the collective sadness at a loss of another of our young national treasures.

"It is too sad, too poignant and it seems so meaningless. How much is enough before as a community that says it is committed to working in partnership is really prepared to roll up its sleeves and to work with the Bermuda Government, the Bermuda Police Service, the clergy, our business leaders, our families, to mobilise and restore hope and institute constructive action.

"As politicians we have to work in our constituencies at the grass-roots level so we mobilise and demonstrate that we have zero tolerance.

"I am hopeful about work that is currently being done but clearly much remains to be done. The family as it mourns should be able despite their tragedy to have something tangible to hold onto that makes sense out of what seems such a senseless tragedy."

Governor Sir Richard Gozney: "The death of 18-year-old Kellon Hill is another tragedy for Bermuda. My family's thoughts and condolences go to his family. The young man's death is not only a tragedy for his family and friends but a natural concern for all who have children in Bermuda and for those who care about Bermuda's youth.

"I know that the Bermuda Government and its Ministers are working on the issues which are said to underlie violent attacks on young people. At Government House we shall do all we can to support the Bermuda Police Service in their efforts to stop such senseless killing."

Jeffrey Brown, President of Bermuda Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church: "The death of any young person is a challenge. This was particularly a tragedy for us because he was a graduate of Bermuda Institute.

"That another young person has fallen victim to youth violence fills our heart with grief and our thoughts are especially with the Hill family.

"We have to replace justice with mercy, replace anger with forgiveness, and to replace hate with love."

Progressive Labour Party Senator Thaao Dill: "The worst part about this stabbing death is the fact that we have context for it. We're all shocked, we all hurt, we are all mourning, but we all sort of understand what happened.

"We have a frame of reference for young people harming themselves over material possessions and that is the most sickening thing about it: we are accustomed to it on some level, that we are used to something so intolerable."I guess all that's left at this point is to honour Kellon, honour his life, honour his memory and in the best way possible which is to honour ourselves, care for each other and love our children actively so they know enough about their value to keep them from behaving like this."

"If four young people are taken from us tragically each year, we are yet to quantify the number of young people who are non-functional and on the fringe of society with little prospects of becoming contributing members of our society. The work is to reach them, one by one.

"I don't think that there is a collective prescription for changing these dire outcomes. Placing a policeman on every corner will accomplish very little. Each one, especially the perpetrator of a senseless killing must examine his or her values. Internalised principled values bring about a change in attitude, conduct and behaviour."

Sara-Ann Tucker, 21, university graduate: "The violence isn't going to stop until people are actually punished for the crimes they commit. Penalties need to be more severe in order to curb the actions of others seeking to undermine individual rights."

Lena Mae Boyles, mother of a young black male:"My heart goes out to all the parents that this has happened to. And these young people need to look and take a reality check because it's destroying the image of Bermuda. Once the tourists and everyone get a look at what's happening here they're not going to want to come.

"My heart bleeds for those parents. That mother was ready to pack her son up to send him abroad for school but now she has to pack him up in a coffin."

Former Attorney General Larry Mussenden: "In my experience as a criminal lawyer, I know that such a tragic loss will have significant consequences to all the people involved. The criminal justice system will be a part of their lives forever.

"I appeal to our young people to lead productive lives through education, sports, the arts and other positive activities. I caution them against negative behaviours, people and circumstances. I encourage parents to know what their young people are involved in, what they are carrying when they leave home and when they return, who they hang out with especially since they live under your roof. Get help if it is needed before the criminal justice system is thrust upon you.

"To the family and friends of Kellon, my heart goes out for you at this tragic time. No amount of words can express your loss. However, please take some comfort that many people in Bermuda and other countries have Kellon and you in our thoughts and prayers. May he live on in your hearts and memories. May he always be your son, brother and friend."

Shadow Public Safety Minister Michael Dunkley: "Words cannot express our shock and sadness in reaction to the recent tragedy.

"It is long past the time to Stop the Violence but if this is going to happen it will take the entire community coming together to make the difference.

"However now is not the time to discuss the way forward, that can occur next week. Now is the time to support the Police in their work but more importantly to support the grieving family and their friends during this very emotional and difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them."

Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda president Lynne Winfield: "There is great sadness and much discussion in the community over the death of this lovely young boy."

As a community we need to do more than express our sympathy and recoil in horror, we need to take responsibility as parents, friends and individuals to educate ourselves and then work with our young people, to take an interest in their lives, and know who their friends are. Only by individual activism can real change be made."

Premier's Press Secretary Glenn Jones: "I am heartbroken for the family and I am especially sympathetic because in Kellon I see myself, a young boy who in all accounts was doing the right thing: worked hard in school, having ambitions to go to college and just wanting to be a productive member of society. So to have that be snuffed out is incredibly unfair."

Former Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons:"The tragic and unnecessary death of Kellon Hill is another wake up call that youth violence is spiralling out of control. Our hearts go out to the Hill Family, as well as the family of Rhiana Moore and others who have lost loved ones to senseless violence. While parents have a clear role in all of this, Government now needs to develop stronger measures to deal with youth and gang violence."

United Bermuda Party MP Donte Hunt:"My heart and prayers are with the parents, family and friends of Kellon Hill. This family's tragic loss is of epic proportions and Bermuda mourns with them during this time of unimaginable despair.

" As we search for some sense in this senseless act, it is clear to me that the underlying cause of such violent youth behaviour is the demise of healthy nurturing families. Family values that once were the bedrock of our social system are no longer setting the tone and boundaries of behaviour.

"As a nation we must focus on finding our way back to a more family centred society, where respect, integrity and love rein supreme. As leaders, teachers and parents we must set the tone by living exemplary lives that are centred on family values."

Angel Nottingham of road safety group R.O.L.O. Remembering Our Loved Ones: "We would like to take the time to extend our heartfelt condolences to the Hill Family. Another young life taken which has left another family heartbroken and a community disturbed. Bermuda, we need to come together in peace and love and celebrate the gift of life. Kellon's purpose on earth was fulfilled and he has left loving memories and impressions on his family and friends, and may that forever live on.

The Premier's race relations consultant Rolfe Commissiong:"First of all my condolences go out to the Hill family. My heart is torn every time I hear of these types of heinous acts being committed. However, let us not forget nor lose sight of the fact that these behaviours and senseless crimes of violence, resulting in the loss of innocent life, have been going on for a little over a decade now. Sadly, it is a long established trend. Moreover not all of these acts result in the murder of the victim. Only two days ago in People's Pharmacy, I bumped into a mother of a young black man who was stabbed multiple times and received a significant head wound only some weeks prior to the incident we are discussing now.

"My fervent hope is that the community is firstly: ready to face some hard truths with respect to the issue of our young and not so young black men; and two: is now also ready to look beyond the symptoms i.e. gang violence, and is determined to have a more substantive examination of this issue. One small vindication for us has been the growing consensus that the comprehensive study of this very valuable group within our community is needed now more than ever.

"The Premier and I both agree that it is imperative that we get a definitive look as to how, culture, family dynamics, education, economic and other factors are contributing to this phenomenon. The study on black males being conducted by Professor Ronald Mincy of Columbia University, while not providing the total answer, will make a key contribution to our understanding of the relevant issues and assist us in devising a blueprint for effective action.

"In a country that possesses no tangible natural resources, our most precious resource in this country is our people. That is why to lose even one through a tragedy such as this is one too many."

Salvation Army head Major Doug Lewis:"Suffice to say the family unit is breaking down and we need to take steps to strengthen it. The church needs to become more active. We know that 'it takes a village to raise a child' but we need to realise that 'it takes a church to raise a village'."

White Hill community leader and PLP Senator Marc Bean:"The path to higher moral standards for adults and young people must start from within. Knowledge of self in these times and in the future will be critical and the only way you can love and respect your neighbour is by loving and respecting yourself.

"It sounds simple, but the task now, is to put that simplicity into practice and in that we should look to family as well as look within ourselves."

Former MP Julian Hall: "All of these random acts of violence, whether fatal or not, are just so very tragic. For some reason, maybe the apparent senselessness of it all, Kellon's death and the manner of his dying is about as tragic as it can get.

"I have known this young man's father, Daniel Hill, for many years; a gentle man, one of Bermuda's most talented musicologists who comes from a family long steeped and reared in the finest of Christian traditions. No family can deserve this. As I look at the picture of the whole family, without their "baby" brother and son, my heart just goes out to them, and I pray that they will find peace, soon. I also pray for the perpetrators and their families.

"But most importantly, I pray for our community; the Bermudian community. Never mind the US, Canada, England or anywhere else; this is now a Bermudian problem. As Bermudians, we must find a Bermudian solution. If any good emerges from this tragedy, it will be the result of an all-party Bermuda-wide commitment to search for, and to arrive at, real answers without rancour, recrimination or more violence.

"I have always been proud of my own contribution to the abolition of capital punishment in Bermuda. But I have to say that this incident has severely dented my committment even to that cause. Maybe we need to put everything, and I mean everything, back on the table for discussion.

"It just seems to me that we have produced an entirely new generation of young people: angry, alienated, desensitised to the value of life itself. I am picturing a generation of young kids whose DNA has been virtually rewired, and while I know there must be answers and solutions, I know that no one of us – no one group or political persuasion – can hold the monopoly of wisdom on this one. Maybe everything needs to be put back on the table. Now."

Wayne Furbert, UBPMP and distant relative of Kellon Hill:"I was deeply hurt. My condolences go out to the Hill family who are my relatives also.

"We as a community need to search our souls, ourselves, to try and come to some discussion about what we can do. I don't have the answers. If I did I would be a wealthy man.

"This is not the Bermuda I came up in. It's not the Bermuda we want either for our children and grandchildren. We need to start talking to young people to learn what has happened what has gone wrong. We have got to say that enough is enough and that the community won't accept this irrational behaviour. Something is broken and we have to fix this.

"We as leaders in the community have to accept the example also. They may see us bickering and battering so much among ourselves, and disagreeing just to disagree, young people may think it is behaviour we have to accept."

Energy Minister and West End MP Terry Lister:"As adults we can throw a lot of stuff at young people, but until they themselves say:'This is what I want,' it is difficult to change them. It comes down to the individual: the youngster himself has to place limits on his behaviour. The person has to have a goal for himself. Day by day we have to take steps to get them to the place where they need to be and help them have goals for themselves."

UBP MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin: "I am truly saddened that this senseless tragedy has become a reality for an upstanding young man and his family. My heart grieves for them as they process the events of the past few days. My prayers will remain with them through this very difficult time."

Carlene Zavane Spencer-Darrell, parent of a 17-year-old son: "I know that if that was my son who was killed I would want his friends and any witnesses to come forward, however on the flip side I find it very disturbing that my son could have been a witness. There are tons of solutions from parents being held accountable to education and it is going to take more than just one institution to see them to fruition. We need to stop talking and just DO IT!"

Social Rehabilitation Minister Dale Butler: "We extend our deepest condolences to the Hill family. This is a period of mourning which has to be followed by a period of reflection then deep thought, planning and action."How do you get people to accept advice, to discipline their children, stop giving them things to make them feel happy when they really want their parents: Time, Attention, Praise. How do we get this minority of parents to accept that being a parent is a lifetime commitment that demands: Love, Interest, Caring, Kindness, Sacrifice."

Kaila Outerbridge: "All I can think about is the Hill Family because of what happened and I have learned since the horrible death of Rhiana Moore. STAY STRONG HILLS 'N' MOORES."

Gazette reader Tika Gilbert: "I don't understand where we went wrong with youth today. My thoughts and prayers are with the Hill family."

Former Premier David Saul: "One can only wonder what the attitude of the mother AND father of the children charged with this terrible crime committed so late at night was BEFORE and AFTER the crime was committed?"Did the parents care where their children were that night? Do the feel any responsibility for the activities of their child? Is there a father living at home and sharing the up-bringing and discipline of their child?"

Former Tourism Minister Renee Webb:"Aside from being a major tragedy for the family of Kellon, the families of all of the young people involved and for the young people themselves, it is a tragedy and blight on the Bermuda community.

"The time has come when more stringent measures are enforced for young people, many of whom do not have parental guidance at home. I suggest that a curfew be implemented for youngsters under the age of 18. This should be set a 11 p.m. or earlier, and enforced by both the law and the parents who will be held accountable if their children are out on the streets unaccompanied after curfew regardless of the circumstances.

"Secondly, the serving of alcohol sure be monitored with ID required before a drink is served. In most States in the US for example it is against the law to serve alcohol to any person under the age of 21 years. Clubs, bars etc. are penalised if they serve alcohol to those under age. This needs to be enforced by law.

"Thirdly, the drug culture which is so prevalent on the Island needs to be addressed in a very real way. Drugs must be stopped before hitting the Island, the beneficiaries of the trade must be put out of business, and users helped when and wherever possible to rid the Island of it's scourge.

"Until we address these issues Bermuda's future is doomed and the lives of so many will suffer. Because we have such a high per capita income drugs fetch a high premium here, the local and overseas drug barons are only happy to serve the demand and ruin so many lives. Government, the community, educators, religious leaders, parents, all must come together and save our Island home from the madness which is currently permeating throughout. The violent action of some of our young people around the death of Kellon is a result of the world that they live in, in Bermuda, being sadly out of control."