A damning indictment of the tragedy and ultimate pointlessness of gang-style violence was given to a packed audience in Hamilton last night after a member of the audience claimed teenager Jason Lightbourne, gunned down at the wheel of a car in Ord Road, had not been the intended victim of his killer.

Mr. Lightbourne?s murder last month brought sharply into focus the extent of an under-current of violent crime in Bermuda that appears to have its roots in gangs, ?crews? and other groupings of predominantly young men.

A public forum to spread education and information about the gang culture was shown graphic proof of the emerging problem with photographs of graffiti that has been found on walls across the Island.

New Jersey Police Sgt. De Lacey Davis and his team have been studying the situation and gave their views to the audience at St. Andrew?s church hall. But it was during a question and answer session that deeper insight into why such crime and violence was fermenting in Bermudian society was put forward.

Speaking of the Ord Road shooting of Mr. Lightbourne, who had been staying at his home, John Battersbee said: ?I heard that they did not want to get that guy.?

Speaking from the floor he said the Ord Road Committee would be seeking its own public meeting to discuss the impact of the violence.

Also speaking from the audience was lawyer Wayne Caines who received a standing ovation after an impassioned speech pointing to the Island?s relentless pursuit of wealth and material possessions creating a legacy of a disfranchised generation living beyond the norms of society.

?We know our spirits and souls are filled with hypocrisy. When we look at the breakdown of the country it has very little to do with gangs,? he stated.

?The basis of our lives is being taken away from each of us. The emphasis has not been on black man, the emphasis is on the money. The only thing this country cares about is money. And now that the proverbial chickens have come to roost we are looking for help.?

The pursuit of money, through exempted business and tourism, has excluded many young people from the system and as a result they have created their own system of values, he said.

He said people were now only concerned about getting a house, or their next car or taxi. Mr. Caines said: ?Men in this community must stop this pursuit of a house or a car because it is for nothing.? And he called for Bermudians to ?find and redevelop themselves?.

Preacher Dr. Stanley James said Bermuda?s pain today are the ?yelps? from hundreds of years of injustices in Bermuda?s history, and he said it was not possible to talk about what is happening on Court Street without talking about Front Street or Trimingham Hill.

Another speaker, who identified herself as a lawyer, said she could never aspire to own her own home in Bermuda. She said while Bermuda relied on the wealth generated by exempted companies and tourism, ?we are not dealing with our souls and our people?. How could it be right for employees in international business to live so well on a single job and yet many Bermudian families with two or more jobs were broke, she asked.

Tears rolled down the face of Dame Lois Browne Evans? daughter Nadine as she recounted working a summer job at a hotel front desk and being looked down upon by a politician who walked past, and she asked how it was right that so many simple hotel jobs that Bermudians could do were filled by overseas employees.

?How are they (potential gang members) going to get these jobs? If you disengage with these groups how are they going to make their money? We have to make sure that these children have jobs to go to when they leave the gangs.?

Sgt. Davis said some factors behind the problem stemmed from young black males not being able to get jobs on their own island. He said the forum in Hamilton would be followed by others around Bermuda and it is intended to create a youth council to involve young people in the discussion.

Law enforcement and gang awareness specialist L. Louis Jordan warned against making rush judgements and labelling people as gang members, but he also identified a list of social and domestic ills that could contribute to a young person turning to gang activity.

He revealed messages that can be deciphered in graffiti and apparent evidence that at least three gangs in Bermuda are communicating in partnership with one other. He said there appeared to be a mysterious group that went by the name SHBRK.

Pairs of sneakers thrown over telephone lines was a coded sign that drugs are being dealt in that vicinity. But he gave hope for Bermuda, applauding the leadership of the country for taking the issue seriously.

He added: ?You are ahead of the curve. You can stop it but you have to get started. It is not something that can just rest on the shoulders of the Police.?

Another member of Sgt. Davis? team, Dr. Lenworth Gunther said there needed to be active policing and a ?taking back of the space?, a painting over of gang graffiti whenever it occurred.