Man Shot In Back By Girlfriend Following Alleged Domestic Violence Altercation

Last updated: Sunday, June 25 (12:43 p.m.)

ST. CROIX — A man was shot in the back by his girlfriend on Friday night in an apartment located in the Good Hope Villas in Frederiksted, Police Commissioner Delroy Richards confirmed to The Consortium Sunday morning.

The 911 emergency call center received notification of the incident at about 9:34 p.m., and dispatched officers to the location. Mr. Richards told The Consortium that upon officers’ arrival to the scene, a male individual was found with a gunshot injury to his upper back. V.I.P.D. Public Information Officer Glen Dratte said the female suspect who did the shooting, called 911 herself, stating that she and the victim were in a domestic violence altercation, and she wound up shooting him.

According to the commissioner, while the V.I.P.D. has classified the female — an employee of Customs and Border Protection — as a suspect, the force had yet to arrest her as of Sunday, because the investigation, he added, was active. “She was taken into custody and I know they were questioning her, and I know that the investigation into that continues,” he said.

Asked to explain the force’s reasoning for not arresting the female suspect, the commissioner said, “I don’t know the basis for them [police officers] not making the arrest. Like I told you before, I don’t know all the intimate details; I don’t know why the investigators chose not to do that. But I’m pretty sure that they have consulted with some prosecution agency without making a determination at this point.”

Giving perspective to the matter, the commissioner revealed that the suspect, earlier on Friday, had visited the police command in Frederiksted to report that she was the victim of abuse, and that she had been “assaulted and beaten” by the same individual she shot that night.

The shooting victim was hospitalized and subsequently flown out of the territory for further medical attention, with Mr. Richards classifying his condition as serious.