A bystander was shot in the foot and police officers came under fire late Saturday as they responded to reports that a driver had brandished a firearm at a woman in Lockhart Gardens on St. Thomas.
According to a V.I. Police Department report issued early Monday morning, officers with the Patrol Division responded about 11 p.m. Saturday “to a situation at Lockhart Gardens where a driver of a Black Acura RDX brandished and exhibited a firearm at a woman.”
While following up on the incident, the patrol units and officers with the Special Operations division searched the surrounding area for the vehicle. “While in Oswald Harris Court the officers saw the vehicle, however, it was too late. The occupants … started to discharge their firearms in the area of the police.”
The suspects fired their weapons while fleeing the area, and an innocent bystander was shot in the foot and was rushed in a private vehicle to Schneider Regional Medical Center for treatment, according to the report.
The incident follows a shooting death Saturday morning, when a citizen called 911 dispatch around 6 a.m. to report that a man had been shot in the area of Nadir Hill on St. Thomas. Arriving at the scene, officers from the Mariel C. Newton Command saw that he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and had no vital signs.
The victim was identified as 53-year-old Terrence Rabsatt. His death marks St. Thomas’ 15th homicide of the year and brings the territory’s total to 28 since the start of 2023, according to the Source Homicide List.*
Anyone with information about Rabsatt’s death should call VIPD’s Major Crimes Unit at (340) 642-8449, 911, or Crime Stoppers V.I.
The suspects in Saturday night’s shooting remain at large. Anyone with information is urged to contact 911, the Criminal Investigation Bureau, Detective Y. Loblack at 340-774-2211, ext. 5573, or Crime Stoppers V.I. at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or go online at www.crimestoppersvi.org or www.P3Tips.com to submit an anonymous tip.
*The Source Homicide List is a chronological log of the homicides recorded in 2023 in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as reported by the VIPD. Cases are broken down by island. While this listing is based on VIPD reports, the Source does not include suicides or vehicular homicides in its listing, which the police and some other media do. This can lead to a discrepancy in the number of incidents reported.
