was blasted in the head with a shotgun after being told to lie down behind the counter of the shop where he worked.

The gunman had already been given the store's cash -- less than $200. Former Police sergeant Mr. Anthony Pierre, from Dominica, served on the local force for more than 10 years before going to the US. Aged 37, he was studying law and working as the store's manager part-time.

His Bermudian widow Dr. Donna Pierre, (nee Durham), is bringing his body to Bermuda for burial. They have a daughter aged about 16 months.

Officer Ben Frazier of Philadelphia Police told The Royal Gazette the hold-up was on Monday afternoon at the Dollar Value convenience store in a residential area of the city. Witnesses in the shop told Police another employee gave the robber the money.

"Then he walked behind the counter and told Mr. Pierre to lie on the floor.

Then Mr. Pierre was shot one time. When Police got there they found Mr. Pierre lying behind the counter. He had been shot in the head with a shotgun.'' The gunman, in his 20s, was seen driving off in a Cadillac. Mr. Pierre was taken to the city's Albert Einstein medical centre, where he was pronounced dead. It is understood he died instantly, from a shattered spine.

Officer Frazier said the motive for the shooting was robbery. "The investigation is continuing but we have developed no hard suspects as yet.'' Similar cold-blooded shootings, with a store employee lying on the floor, had happened before. "It's brutal, yes, but not uncommon,'' he said.

Although Philadelphia has the least crime of America's 10 largest cities, there have already been 419 murders there this year. Even so, Officer Frazier was shocked to hear Mr. Pierre was an ex-Policeman.

P.c. Gary Venning, spokesman for the Bermuda Force, paid tribute to his former colleague. He said Mr. Pierre served from 1979 to 1990, mainly in St. George's but then in the finance department, in administration. "It's a shock because he was a really nice guy. It's tragic news. I'm sure that in the Police Force he will be very well remembered. He was very well liked and quite unobtrusive.

He always had positive things to say about people.'' Mr. Pierre's mother-in-law, Mrs. Julia Durham of Crawl Hill, said he had been hoping to go to England for further study. It is understood Mr. Pierre was last on the Island in September for a family wedding.

Mr. Anthony Pierre.