Sept. 20, 2006 The victim of a shooting near a Christiansted nightclub last week has died, causing the V.I. Police Department to upgrade its criminal investigation to a homicide.
The victim, whose name police had withheld, was identified Wednesday as Earl Russell Dennis, 26, of Frederiksted. Dennis sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the early hours of Sept. 15 near a Christiansted nightclub. Stray bullets damaged three vehicles, including one owned by the Water and Power Authority.
Police spokeswoman Shawna Richards said Dennis died Wednesday morning.
Investigators urge anyone with information on Dennis' killing to contact police, she said. Information will be kept confidential.
Richards and WAPA Spokeswoman Cassandra Dunn expressed relief that there were no other injuries during the shooting, which police said occurred about 3 a.m. Friday in downtown Christiansted.
Last week Richards said police were directed to a nightclub known as De Playground, where they discovered a black male lying in the street. Eyewitnesses told police the shots may have come from the second floor of the club.
Three vehicles, including a WAPA truck, were damaged in the hail of gunfire.
WAPA linemen work in shifts to provide coverage 24 hours a day. The night of the incident, two linemen were responding to power outages resulting from a storm the night before and working away from their vehicle.
According to Dunn, the linemen returned to find several bullet holes and some of the truck's windows completely shattered.
Neither of the men was injured, but the truck had 12 bullet holes, including one in the seat on the driver's side. The cab's back window was completely destroyed. Bullets also struck the doors and body of the truck.
One bullet hit the cable for the truck's bucket boom, which hoists workers up to poles and utility lines.
Police are asking anyone with information on Friday morning's shooting to contact 911 or the Criminal Investigation Bureau's hotline at 778-4950.
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