KINGSTON, Jamaica — Youth and Culture Minister  Lisa Hanna today condemned the killing of 22-year-old, Shanique Walters, a student of the University of Technology.Read: Second scare fatal

Walters was shot dead during a robbery in Hope Pastures on Wednesday.

“I am again deeply saddened and profoundly shaken by this attack and senseless killing of one of our young citizens,” Hanna said.

She said those who decide to take people’s lives at whatever cost are devoid of any morals and understanding of the value of life and have been shielded for far too long.

She urged students, to speak up about acts of violence being meted out against them or their peers.

“The lives of our young people should be nurtured and not be taken away maliciously or brutally at the hands of criminals who walk among us knowingly. The reality is that these criminal elements, who continue to wreak havoc in our country, live in houses and in our communities, they have sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers who know of their wrong doings and refuse to speak up. This must not continue!” the youth minister insisted.

She also added that now is the time to channel energies, as a nation, and weed out criminal elements in an effort to create a safer and more productive environment for children and young people to inherit.

At the same time, she expressed sympathies to the family, friends and classmates who mourn the “untimely” passing of Walters while calling on Jamaicans to remain vigilant in the fight against crime and urged any witnesses to come forward.