A 28-year-old St. Croix man was found shot to death Friday night in Williams Delight, the V.I. Police Department reported.
The victim was identified by family members as Olson Tyson of Mount Pleasant Apartments. It was the 21st homicide on St. Croix since the beginning of the year, according to the Source homicide list*, and the 39th in the territory.
According to the police, at about 11:09 p.m. Oct. 16, the 911 emergency call center received reports of shots fired near an establishment, unidentified by the police report, in William’s Delight. Officers traveled to the area to investigate and found an unresponsive adult male with gunshot wounds on the ground. Emergency medical technicians on the scene concluded that the victim had no vital signs.
St. Croix District Chief of Police Sidney Elskoe denounced the shooting death.
“I was on the scene of another senseless homicide and watched the anguish of another destroyed family try to comprehend the death of their loved one, Elskoe said. “It is time for the entire community to say, ‘No more!’ No matter how bad the situation may get, resorting to using guns to resolve differences is a tragic solution. We need to encourage our young men to put the guns down.”
The chief said the VIPD will use all available resources to solve this and other unsolved homicides.
Police urged anyone with information about the incident to contact police by calling 911, the Crime TipLine at 340-778-4950, or the anonymous tip service, Crime Stoppers USVI, at 1-800-222-8477 (1-800-222-TIPS.)
* The Source homicide list is based on reports from the V.I. Police Department, but unlike the police listing and some other media, does not include suicides or vehicular homicides, which can lead to a difference in the number of incidents reported.
