ST. THOMAS — Another person has been shot to death in St. Thomas within 24 hours, with V.I.P.D. Public Information Officer Toby Derima confirming a shooting incident at the Oswald Harris Court housing community that occurred Tuesday at around 7:58 p.m.
According to Mr. Derima, officers traveled to the area and found an unresponsive Black male suffering from gunshot wounds. The gunshot victim expired at the scene a short time later, according to the news release.
The victim’s identity was being withheld at time of writing pending notification of next of kin, Mr. Derima said.
The case is presently under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Bureau. More information will be forthcoming as details become available, said the police department.
Earlier today, the V.I.P.D. reported that a former V.I. Port Authority officer was found dead with multiple gunshots wounds in Estate Dorothea during the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
According to the news release, on Tuesday at approximately 4:51 a.m., the 911 Emergency Call Center received a call of a man down in Estate Dorothea, in the vicinity of the dumpsters. It was unclear whether the victim was shot at the dumpsters, or whether he was taken there after being killed. Mr. Derima said he would provide an update once available.
Officers traveled to the area and found an unresponsive Black male with multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency Medical Technicians on the scene made a check of the victim and found no signs of life, Mr. Derima said.
The victim was identified as Bill John-Baptiste, 49, who once worked as an officer of the V.I. Port Authority, and from 2008 was embroiled in a public corruption case involving two former V.I. police officers, Francis Brooks and Enid Edwards. John-Baptiste received a five-year sentence in 2012 for kidnapping, while the two police officers faced well over a dozen charges, including robbery, extortion and drug trafficking.
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