V.I.P.D. Arrests Three In Barren Spot Homicide; More Details To Be Released Following D.N.A. Results

ST. CROIX — The Virgin Islands Police Department has made three crucial arrests in the recent Barren Spot shooting that left one man dead in a vehicle, Police Commissioner Delroy Richards and Chief of Police Winsbut McFarland both confirmed to The Consortium on separate occasions.

The arrests in the homicide incident builds on the force’s momentum in apprehending suspects allegedly involved in major criminal cases, among them the apprehension of four individuals said to be involved in the East End Road rape incident.

Weapons were also confiscated during the Barren Spot shooting, according to Chief McFarland. Along with the mugshots of the suspects, images of the weapons used during the shooting will also be released to the public, the chief said.

Although the V.I.P.D. has in its custody the three suspects and is confident in its case, investigators were awaiting DNA results before releasing their names and mugshots to the public, according to the chief.

The incident occurred on Friday — the same day the V.I.P.D. held a press conference announcing the arrest of the rape suspects — around the noon hour, with the 911 emergency call center receiving notification of the incident at 12:36 p.m., according to V.I.P.D. Public Information Officer Glen Dratte. Police units were immediately dispatched to the area.

Mr. Dratte said several officers arrived on the scene and made contact with a male individual who had sustained lacerations about the body and was offered medical assistance.

The male individual told police that he was on the passenger’s side of the vehicle riding with his friend in the Barren Spot area, when he heard shots discharged. The driver lost control and overturned the vehicle, according to the surviving male individual.

Details gathered by officers revealed that the incident was actually a gunfight between suspects in two vehicles, which ended in the death of a driver of one of the vehicles, and injuries to another man in the passenger’s side of the vehicle with the deceased. Police did not say whether the suspects who were driving the other vehicle had been wounded by gunfire.

Emergency medical technicians, along with St. Croix Rescue personnel, arrived on the scene and confirmed that the male individual situated motionless behind the steering wheel had no vital signs of life.

He was pronounced dead by medical attendants on the scene, according to Mr. Dratte. The individual on the passenger side was transported to the Juan F. Luis Hospital for further medical attention. Police have yet to reveal the identity of the slain man.