Isaiah Furbert has been named as the 19-year-old shot dead in Devonshire on Tuesday — becoming Bermuda’s youngest gun fatality in a decade.

Mr Furbert was gunned down through a window at his home in Upland Street at 10pm, and was pronounced dead 24 minutes later at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Last night, Senator Jeff Baron, the Minister of National Security, confirmed that his ministry was aware of reports of heightened tension in areas plagued by gang violence.

But Mr Baron urged community leaders and social advocates to play their part in calming the rising friction.

Mr Furbert becomes the 31st firearm fatality in Bermuda since incidents began to spiral in May 2009, and the fourth in 2016 after Patrick Dill, Fiqre Crockwell and Jason Mello.

He is the island’s youngest gun murder victim since 18-year-old Jason Lightbourne was shot dead in a car in Paget on July 23, 2006.

At a police press conference yesterday, Acting Detective Chief Inspector Mark Clarke said: “This is yet another senseless murder of a young man who was just entering the prime of his life.”

He added that it was too early to say if the killing was linked to either last Thursday’s shooting on Court Street or Sunday’s brawl at Southampton Rangers Sports Club, which left two men in intensive care.

Mr Clarke also declined to comment on whether the Bermuda Police Service believed the murder to be gang-related.

However, he confirmed that Mr Furbert was familiar to police, that he was employed and that he had not been alone in the residence at the time of the shooting. He added: “Already the Serious Crime Unit is following specific lines of inquiry and we are encouraged by the information that has been coming in.

“We are, however, still looking to talk with anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity in the Upland Street area between 6pm and 10pm, specifically around the Watlington Road East Devonshire area near Mr Chicken.”

In a statement released yesterday evening, Mr Baron expressed his shock at the latest gun murder and extended his condolences to Mr Furbert’s family and friends.

“We will certainly do our part to provide the necessary resources to the police and the various helping agencies to support them as they address this latest spate of gun and gang violence,” he said.

“But Government can only do so much.

“We need those community leaders and social advocates, those moral voices in our churches, schools, sports clubs, businesses, unions and even those across the political spectrum to step in and do what they can to help ease and calm the tensions in their respective communities.

“In the days and weeks ahead the Ministry will be reaching out to those individuals in our community who we believe have critical roles to play in providing a unifying voice against gang and gun violence.

“In the meantime, the Police are doing their due diligence in investigating this matter.”

Mr Baron urged anyone with any information about Tuesday night’s murder to contact police.

Meanwhile Sheelagh Cooper, from the Coalition for the Protection of Children, also expressed her horror at the latest in a spate of violent incidents affecting the island.

“Clearly we are in a state of emergency in Bermuda, when you have two stabbings, two murders and two shootings in the space of a month,” she said.

“Five out of six were in the space of two weeks.

It really underscores the need to look at what’s causing this.” [See separate story on the Coalition]

Walter Roban, Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, called the shooting a “sobering reminder” of the community’s responsibility to tackle violent crime.

“In the interest of public safety, and to prevent further loss of life, we renew our call for the creation of a Job Corps programme, to give our young men a pathway away from the streets,” he said.

“Further, we recommend strong action be taken to combat youth unemployment, lack of opportunities and the need for not just jobs, but a sense of hope and belonging — and that they matter in Bermuda.”

Anyone with information should call the Serious Crime Unit on 295-0011 or the anonymous Crime Stoppers hotline number on 800-8477.