Shots Fired On Old Year’s Night Damage Cable, Phone, Internet Service Lines

Innovative has been working to restore cable, phone and internet service to many of its customers on St. Croix who lost connection after gunshots fired on Old Year’s Night left wires severely damaged, according to an Innovative field employee who spoke with the VI Consortium.

Firing gunshots into the air on Old Year’s Night, or any other night, with a licensed or unlicensed firearm is illegal in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Deputy Police Chief Arthur Hector, Sr., warned against the activity during the Crucian Christmas Carnival 2014-2015 season.

“I want to talk about celebratory gunfire, and this is particularly on Old Year’s Night/New Year’s morning,” Hector began. “I want to say again, we are begging, pleading, asking the public, community, individuals, whether they have legal or illegal firearms, not to fire shots in the air in celebration of New Year’s Day. It is illegal, and most importantly, it is very dangerous.

Hector added: “We’ve had incidents in the past where rounds of projectiles have come back down from the air, gone through churches, gone through people’s homes, and injured individuals. So again, we are highly, highly asking that the public not discharge shots in celebrating New Year’s morning.”

Nonetheless Hector’s pleas were ignored, as shots could be heard after midnight on New Year’s Day in many parts of the island, as reported by various residents.

The Innovative employee, who provided VI Consortium with images of the damaged lines and who also worked on restoring service to customers, said it’s a situation the company deals with every year.

“Sometimes we would not find the [damaged lines] until early to mid-January,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

The employee also said Innovative loses money because “each time we go out and find a problem, we would have to report our findings, and if it’s a legitimate finding to what the customer is complaining about, they’ve got to be credited.”

Residents affected by damaged lines caused by Old Year’s Night gunfire may contact Innovative here.