A King Edward VII Memorial Hospital nurse who has seen several gun victims in the emergency room has called on the community to stop "egging" the young men on and glorifying gang culture.

The nurse, who would not be named for fear of losing her job, said yesterday she has seen the gory results of the ongoing gun violence. This year seven people have been shot dead. Twenty-four additional people have been injured by shootings, including David Godwin who was shot on Thursday.

Police have said many of the shootings are a result of a rivalry between Parkside, based largely on Princess Street, and 42, mostly based on St. Monica's Road.

"We have got to stop this," the nurse said. "Mother and fathers and grandparents, we have got to say enough is enough. We have got to stop playing this role where we feed into their gang identity.

"Stop yelling at Police. Are you ridiculous?" she said in reference to Thursday's shooting of Mr. Godwin when angry residents of St. Monica's Road alleged Police were in cahoots with Parkside because two unarmed officers were at the scene at the time of the shooting.

Police denied working with Parkside and yesterday Assistant Commissioner of Police David Mirfield said: "(The anger) is understandable and I understand why that anger should be directed at officers but what I can say there are rumours and also speculation in the media today that there were officers present at that scene that failed to react, that is absolutely not true." (See Mr. Mirfield's full response on page 1)

The nurse, who said she knows some of the young men currently perpetuating the violence, added: "Parkside working with the Police, come on now. Then others are saying Police are working with 42, because Police weren't on Court Street the night Troy 'Yankee' Rawlins was murdered. The community needs to get real and stop adding to the drama."

She said she believed the shooters, and those who associate with them, are "crying out for help".

"We are not showing them a better way, we are older them and we were properly educated, which they have not been thanks to the public education system," she said. "They have been ignored and the area has been ignored for decades and now people are surprised they are angry?"

Earlier this week Premier Ewart Brown said public education was the biggest disappointment of his four-year tenure.

The nurse added: "We are encouraging them, when we say Police are to blame, and not showing them how to get out of the gang life. We are playing right into their gang identity every time we run around saying Parkside this and 42 that.

"We have got to show them there is another way than violence. In my profession I know it is never too late to save a life."