New Details Emerge On Homicide Of Ericksen Hansen

ST. CROIX — Following information provided to The Consortium by VIPD Commissioner Delroy Richards concerning the death of Ericksen Hansen, the son of former Senator Alicia “Chucky” Hansen, VIPD Public Information Officer Kevin Jackson issued a press release with new details.

According to Jackson, at approximately 12:34 a.m. on Wednesday, the 911 emergency call center dispatched officers to a report of gunfire in Estate Cane, behind Kmart located in the Sunshine Mall. The time given by Mr. Jackson stands in contrast with the 1:30 a.m. time that Mr. Richards told The Consortium that shots were fired.

According to Jackson’s report, the claimant informed police officers that a male companion had come to her residence for a meal earlier that evening and was leaving her home at 10:00 p.m. As the male companion walked towards his vehicle, she heard the discharge of gunfire and saw two males running into the bushes, west of Estate Williams Delight.

Officers conducted a search for the claimant’s male companion and were unable to locate him, but discovered several spent shell-casings in the area. Later that morning at 6:33 a.m., the 911 emergency call center received a call from a concerned citizen stating that the body of a man was found in Estate Williams Delight.

Responding officers discovered the body of a deceased man, later identified as Ericksen Hansen, who appeared to have sustained multiple gunshot wounds, with shell casings found around his body.

Mr. Richards gave The Consortium a different story this morning, however the commissioner’s description of what took place seems to loosely connect to what might have happened after Mr. Hansen left the residence that he visited earlier.

According to Mr. Richards, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the 911 emergency call center transmitted a report of shots being fired in Williams Delight, and police units were discharged to investigate the matter.

Mr. Richards said the first investigation immediately following the event yielded no fatalities. However, a witness on the scene said he was flagged down while in his vehicle looking to leave the area by what appeared to be an injured black male, asking for a lift to the Juan F. Luis Hospital.

Attempting to exit Williams Delight with the victim headed to JFL, a second individual, who the witness said was standing in the road, attempted to stop the vehicle and proceeded to fire a shot into the transport — prompting both the driver of the vehicle and its passenger, the injured man, to run in separate directions, leaving the car’s engine idling and two doors open, according to Mr. Richards.

Mr. Richards added that the witness, who police met at the scene, said he did not know where the injured man ran to, and police, who conducted a search of the area at the time, came up empty-handed.

Later in the morning, police received a report of a man down in the Williams Delight area, and upon arrival on the scene and after examination, it was determined that the deceased victim was Ericksen Hansen.