ST. CROIX — A man received medical care at the Juan F. Luis Hospital after being shot in the vicinity of the Paradise Mills housing community on Sunday, V.I.P.D. Public Information Officer Glen Dratte announced late Tuesday.
According to Mr. Dratte, the 911 emergency call center received a call from J.F.L. in reference to a gunshot wound victim. Detectives thereafter made contact with the victim who had been shot in the lower abdomen.
The victim told police he spent the night in Paradise Mills, and that he got up the following morning and was walking through a shortcut in the neighborhood around 7:20 a.m. While he was walking, however, an unknown black male individual, about 5’9, dressed in all black with a ski mask over his face and black Nike slippers, jumped out of the bushes and demanded his belongings, the victim said.
The victim further stated that the unknown male individual tried to “gun butt” him with a revolver, causing a tussle to ensue. During that time a shot was discharged, the victim told police. At first, he thought the unknown male individual was shot, at which point the victim quickly left the area. Even so, the victim said he could hear shots being fired as he made his escape.
After escaping the gunshots, the victim said he went to a relative’s home where he lifted his shirt and noticed that he had been shot. Detectives conducted a follow up at Paradise Mills and located where the alleged incident may have occurred. They observed disturbed grass, along with two bullet holes in a black cover that was placed over a fence, according to police. Police did not explain what, exactly, the cover was.
The incident as of Tuesday was under investigation by the V.I.P.D.’s Criminal Investigation Bureau, Mr. Dratte said. Police are asking anyone with information to contact C.I.B. at 340-778-2211, or send an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers USVI here.
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