Kerry Puckerin-Tear is one of several Bermudians who has lost a loved one through violence.

Her father, Perry Mosley Puckerin, was gunned down at the Hamilton Parish Workmen's Club on January 3.

He left behind a son Lejuan, 16, and eight-year-old Kerry.

Kerry's class at Victor Scott Primary School recently wrote letters begging those persons pulling the triggers, to stop the shootings. Kerry was emphatic on what needed to be done to stem the violence.

"I am upset because they shot my daddy and my two godpas and they need to stop," she said yesterday. "Because first Bermuda was not like this but now it's crazy. I feel sad.

"They need to put away the guns. Wherever they got guns from they need to put them away and stop the shooting. They keep going back to the jail."

Her 34-year-old father grew up in the St. Monica's Road, Pembroke area. His family has said Mr. Puckerin had lost friends to gun violence but was not personally involved in the gang activity many believe responsible for it. In her open letter to the shooters responsible for her father's death, she spoke of her fears.

"They get 16 and 17-year-olds to shoot people who they don't like," she said. "It's a lot of shooting up 42nd [Street] and they keep going up there and trying to catch boys up there that they don't like because they don't like where they hang, where they were born and now they're trying to shoot everybody."

She continued: "I live in Deepdale [Pembroke] and I'm afraid to walk home [from school] because a gunman might shoot somebody that's by me and then when [they're] really close to me, they might shoot me by mistake.

"I don't even go outside that much, only when I'm going outside to play with my friend."