0 By. VI CONSORTIUM
ST. CROIX — Another man has been killed on St. Croix, this time in Grove at about 7:36 p.m. Tuesday. The shooting comes on the heels of a homicide Tuesday morning in Estate Carlton on St. Croix, which left 38-year-old Ian Benjamin, Sr., dead. Mr. Benjamin was a member of the V.I. National Guard.
Toby Derima, the V.I.P.D. public information officer, confirmed the latest shooting death to the Consortium after the publication learned of the crime from police sources. Mr. Derima said ShotSpotter, the V.I.P.D.'s technology that detects where gunshots emanate from, showed that the latest event occurred in the Mutual Homes area of Grove.
The victim has been identified as Euette A. Brown, age 34.
Preceding the Mutual Homes homicide were multiple shootings in Williams Delight, a police source told the Consortium. According to police, what was described as a barrage of gunshots was emanating from Williams Delight when the Grove homicide occurred. As officers were hustling to the Mutual Homes crime scene, at least one police vehicle crashed. The officers involved in the accident are said to be okay, the Consortium has learned.
Police Commissioner Trevor Velinor, who was away on the mainland when violence rocked St. Croix over the weekend, is believed to have arrived back in the territory today. Police officials had told the Consortium during a Sunday press conference that Mr. Velinor was in the territory, and Mr. Velinor, who appeared virtually via Zoom, did not correct the record.
The latest homicides follow one of the most violent weekends in St. Croix's modern history, where five people were shot and killed between Friday and Sunday — including four between Saturday night and the wee hours of Sunday morning. The incidents left a total of 13 individuals shot, five dead and nine injured by gunfire.
Today's deaths carry the total homicides in five days to seven, a staggering number for a population of roughly 50,000.
911 Call Center on St. Croix closes temporarily
St. Croix residents facing emergencies will have their calls routed through St. Thomas as the St. Croix 911 Emergency Call Center has been closed until Thursday due to an employee — a dispatcher — at the facility testing positive for Covid-19, the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) announced Tuesday.
According to VITEMA, the emergency call center on St. Croix closed at 4:00 p.m. today.
All 911 calls on St. Croix will be routed through the St. Thomas 911 Call Center and will be entered into a computer-aided dispatch, or CAD system, the agency said.
The St. Croix facility will be closed Wednesday to be cleaned and sanitized, VITEMA said. It is scheduled to reopen at 7:00 a.m. - Thursday.
VITEMA said 16 other dispatchers were tested today and produced negative results.
Below are contact numbers for St. Croix residents if they need to call the Virgin Islands Police Department, the Virgin Islands Fire Service and Virgin Islands EMS directly:
- VIPD Frederiksted: 340-778-2211
- VIPD Christiansted: 340-773-2530
- V.I. Fire Service Frederiksted: 340-772-0213
- V.I. Fire Service Christiansted: 340-773-1211
- V.I. EMS: 340-773-1311 ext. 3861 or ext. 3652
