Jah-Lario Samuels-Dill wasn't the only victim when he was shot in the chest as Bermuda's gun violence began spiralling out of control four months ago.

Yardie Kitchen — the shop on Glebe Road next-door to where Mr. Samuels-Dill was gunned down in broad daylight on October 31 — reports a downturn in trade ever since, with customers said to be afraid of venturing out in the evenings.

"Business is slow. Slower than it used to be. Now nobody really wants to come out at night again," a staff member told The Royal Gazette when Up Your Street visited Pembroke East.

"At eight o'clock it's empty. It's been like that for the last few months. A lot of people say there's too much shootings and other stuff, so they stay away. We had that one right next door.

"We still have some regular people come, but not that much any more. You will have long gaps where there's no one at all.

"If the business is slow it gets to be stressful because less money is coming in but you still have the same bills to pay."

The staff member said she is not afraid for her own safety walking around the area, explaining: "The only thing I'm scared of is if someone came to rob the shop."

The store has been a mainstay in the Pembroke East community for about 20 years and, while it retains support from some locals, these days people from outside the area are said to be reluctant to go there during the evenings.

Health Minister Walter Roban, the area's MP, will meet Police to ask for an increased presence in the neighbourhood.

"We need to make people know that this area is safe to come in during those after-hour times," Mr. Roban told this newspaper. "I want to speak to the Pembroke action team's community officers to discuss any improvements that can be made.

"I think sometimes just a little extra attention by Police can increase people's confidence; sometimes they just need to be seen so that people feel safe.

"This is something people are experiencing across the Island; people are not going out, period."

Last October 31, Mr. Samuels-Dill, 21, was shot near where children play in the afternoon; he was heard running into a nearby home yelling, "help me, I've been shot". Two Pembroke men were arrested but nobody has been charged.

Since then, violence has escalated to an unprecedented level, with the Middletown, St. Monica's Road and St. John's Road areas of the city all recording incidents.

Mr. Roban said although Pembroke's gangs are mainly based in constituencies other than his own, Pembroke East has been caught in the crossfire.

But one man visiting Yardie Kitchen stressed not all locals are living in fear.

He told this newspaper: "It ain't bothering me. One shooting happened right outside my house and I wasn't bothered. I'm not afraid. Him upstairs, he's in charge. I won't get caught in the crossfire because I don't do nothing to deserve nothing like that. If anybody's going to shoot me it's probably because they weren't aiming at their target properly."

He said people violence has become so common-place people are no longer shocked and have even started using gallows humour.

"What I don't get is, if you are going to use a gun, why don't you go down a bank and get some money for it," he said. "You're going to get locked up for 25 years anyway, but at least when you get back out you'll have some money hidden away.

"These guys are just shooting each other and getting nothing out of it."