It was the fifth killing in that district since the start of the year.

The victim was identified as 20-year-old Tyrone Burrell.

Witnesses reported multiple shots fired outside a home on Birch Tree Hill around 8.05pm Wednesday. However, police later said their information indicated only one shot had been fired.

When officers arrived they discovered the 20-year-old Burrell lying on the ground near a residence not moving or breathing. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  

No arrests were immediately reported. Police were conducting a wide search of the Birch Tree Hill Road area using the helicopter and armed ground units Thursday night.

Later in the evening, police were seen stopping cars on West Bay Road at the intersection of Raleigh Quay - the only way into or out of the district.

Wednesday night’s shooting happened in the same yard where Damion Ming was shot back in March. Police said Thursday afternoon that Burrell was known to be associated with people involved in gangs. Other sources informed the Caymanian Compass that Burrell had been an associate of Ming’s.

According to police, Burrell's mother had dropped him off for a party at the Birch Tree Hill Road location earlier that evening. 

Police believe Burrell did have information relating to Ming’s killing, but he never took that information to the police and was never identified as a police witness.

“We believe that Tyrone did have valuable information related to the Damion Ming killing,” RCIPS Superintendent Marlon Bodden said Thursday afternoon.

Mr. Bodden added that if Burrell had gone to the police with his information “we may not be sitting here today talking about another wasted young life.” Mr. Bodden said Burrell would have been protected by the police.

Wednesday night’s violence was an unwelcome sight in West Bay district which saw four killings within two months earlier in the year.

Four-year-old Jeremiah Barnes’s shooting death in mid-February sparked a run of homicides that led to the deaths of Alrick Peddie, 25, Marcos Duran, 29, and Ming.

Since late March, however, gun related violence in the district had dropped off sharply.

From March through September, the Islands saw only one other shooting death.

That incident involved a homeowner firing on a burglary suspect who police said had entered his home.

Just this week, that 65-year-old homeowner, who is a licensed gun owner, was cleared of any criminal wrong-doing in the shooting.