An unidentified man died Sunday afternoon at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital after he was shot by a police officer on the Red Hook ferry dock.
WVWI Radio One quoted unnamed police sources as saying that the officer drew his weapon and fired several times after the victim refused to comply with the officer’s demand that he drop the gun he was brandishing.
An eyewitness told Radio One that the officer did not fire his weapon until the victim lifted his gun in a threatening manner toward the officer, who continued to order him to drop the gun.
Forensics agents recovered at least eight spent ammunition casings from the area of the shooting.
The victim fell inside the tourist information booth after he was struck by gunfire. He was rushed by ambulance to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:45 p.m.
Homicide detectives, investigators and uniformed police officers all converged on the scene of the shooting, which had been called in to police around 12:45 p.m. It was the second shooting on St. Thomas in about 12 hours
It is police procedure for officers involved in shooting incidents to be placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of both an internal investigation and any criminal charges that may arise from the probe of the incident.
Police officials did not identify the officer involved in the shooting.