A robber is reported to have put a gun to the head of a 15-year-old girl in order to steal her cell phone in Hamilton on Saturday.

It is understood the assailant ran away towards Albuoy's Point and is now being hunted by Police after the mugging on Par-la-Ville Road at 7.20 p.m.

The mother of one of the three teenage girls who were with the victim at the time of the incident last night said her daughter had been badly upset.

"She cried for a bit," said the 34-year-old mother. "Today she's been in the house all day. She doesn't plan on going anywhere, she says.

"As a parent, I'm very, very appalled by this situation. We know what type of crime is going on but we never think it will happen to our children."

According to the mother the four girls, all CedarBridge Academy students, were walking along Par-la-Ville, near the junction with Rosebank Road, when the gunman struck.

"They were going to a football game on the BAA field," said the mother, who asked that she and her child not be named.

It is believed the girl who was robbed was using her phone to write a text message when two men on a bike rode up, with one of the men getting off the bike.

The man was wearing a hoodie top and stood beside the girl with the phone. The mother who spoke to this newspaper said her daughter told her that man put a gun to the victim's head before taking her phone and running away in the direction of Bermudiana Road. The other man on the bike rode off in the opposite direction.

The four girls were not injured and waited for the Police to arrive before being taken to Hamilton Police Station to report the incident.

The mother of one of the girls who was with the victim at the time, said: "Our children are children that like to go outside and play with their friends," she said. "Right now, they don't want to go outside or do anything after the sun goes down."

Of the robber, she said: "If they catch him, something should be done to this boy, because it's too much on this little Island. It's a prepaid phone — that's all he took. He will find out later that it wasn't even worth stealing."

A Police spokesman said the four girls, aged 15 and 16, were on Par-La-Ville Road near the junction with Rosebank Road "when one of them was accosted by an unknown man brandishing what appeared to be a firearm".

He added: "The suspect demanded the teenager's BlackBerry cellular phone before fleeing the scene on foot — heading toward Bermudiana Road."

Senator Dunkley, Shadow National Security Minister, said: "My colleagues and I are shocked to learn of the latest gun incident on Saturday where a teenager was stopped by a punk with a gun and robbed.

"It is deeply disturbing to know that our society has now sunk to such a level where a child is set upon and threatened by a gun — in Hamilton no less."

He claimed public safety was "under siege" and said this was just the latest in a string of violence incidents, including assaults on taxi drivers, home robberies, tourist muggings and gang and gun violence.

"The culture of safety that has always prevailed in this country — the culture that made Bermuda a better place to live, raise families and do business — is beginning to disappear," said Sen. Dunkley.

Opposition MP Louise Jackson, whose Pembroke South West constituency includes Par-la-Ville Road, said the robbery was "really, really outrageous". "If we can't protect the safety of our locals and residents it's a sad situation; it's frightening."

Hamilton Mayor Charles Gosling said: "We don't want to see that anywhere on the Island — it's very disturbing. The incidents with guns have been in fairly limited areas and have been affecting a small part of the community. It's sad to see now that it's broadening out."

A spokeswoman for National Security Minister David Burch could not be reached last night.

The robber had light brown skin, was about 5ft 9in tall, of medium build and was wearing a black hooded top and khaki pants. Police are asking witnesses or anyone with information to call 295-0011 or the confidential Crime Stoppers hot line on 800-8477.