A 28-year-old man was arrested Sunday and charged with unlicensed possession of a firearm amid a multiagency investigation into the killing of Virgin Islands Police Department Officer Eustace Charles.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said during a livestreamed address Sunday that Charles, who was assigned to the Executive Security Unit and part of Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach’s St. Croix security detail, was ambushed by multiple gunmen while leaving his Williams Delight home early that morning. Bryan said law enforcement used surveillance footage to track vehicles used in the shooting and that several people were taken into custody. Police also recovered multiple firearms.
The V.I. Police Department later identified Ra’Kheel Velasquez, 28, as the person of interest.
According to charging documents filed in V.I. Superior Court, law enforcement’s ShotSpotter system detected multiple gunshots at approximately 5:49 a.m. in the Williams Delight housing community, and a witness reported seeing a black car flee the area. Law enforcement arrived to find Charles in the front seat of his car with multiple gunshot wounds. He succumbed to his injuries.
A witness reported that the car used by the suspects was a black, four-door Hyundai with no license plates. A VIPD detective located a matching car at approximately 7:40 a.m. in the Work and Rest area. Both the Hyundai and a gray Nissan Pathfinder were then driven to a Richmond area beach, where the detective saw a man later identified as Velasquez exit the Hyundai and enter the Nissan. A V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources police officer then turned on his car’s sirens and attempted to stop the Nissan, which sped away.
At some point, Valesquez exited the car while it was still moving. Police saw him get up and run into the Richmond housing community armed with an Anderson AM-15 rifle. He was ultimately found, arrested and taken to the Wilbur H. Francis Command police station.
According to court documents, Velasquez admitted to jumping out of the Nissan and confirmed that the rifle was his. His bail was set at $50,000 and he was taken to the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility ahead of his advice of rights hearing, which was scheduled for Monday.
In a statement Monday, VIPD said they partnered with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations and special operations personnel to execute a search of the residence where Velasquez was last seen. There, they recovered another gun and “other related paraphernalia.”
Velasquez was previously arrested in 2021 after he was caught with four pounds of marijuana in his luggage while traveling to St. Croix. He was sentenced to four months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
