Koki beach shootout

Unoffical but i think two are dead. One local, one tourist. Status on the third i dont know about.

According to the St. Thomas source, the tourist was a 14 year old girl, the other fatality was a local man attending a funeral at the graveyard near Coki. Police did detain 3 for questioning, but no arrest. Can you imagine losing a daughter that way on vacation? If these reports are true it is very bad news for our tourism and with the recent gun violence escalation over the past 18 months or so, what's next?

Its rumored that this is on CNN. All rumour at this point however

"A shootout at 11:50 a.m. Monday has left two people dead; a 14-year-old female tourist and a local male attending a funeral at the graveyard adjacent to Coki Point beach..."

http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2010/07/12/coki-point-shootout-leaves-two-dead

Has anyone noticed that there are murderers on house arrest? And some of them are only on house arrest for 12 hours every night. (Saw this on the VIPD website.) What's up with that?

from what I just heard on Alvin G's news broadcast, the funeral was for a guy who had been killed in STT(at the mall on STT?) and the girl was on a safari bus and got caught in the crossfire...this will be really bad. I'm guessing the gov is in the states at the Democratic Governor's conference...I recall the fallout years ago when an italian tourist was killed in the fort parking lot in C'sted...what a mess....how terrible for that girl's family and the rest of the folks in the area at that time....

The funeral at Coki was for a teenager who was shot at K-mart.

let us all seriously hope CNN and any other major network doesn't get wind of this. Aweful

Now we're talking ! Yeah let's just sweep it under the rug like it never happened. Cheryl, I actually take pity on you.

It is hard to say whether media exposure would help or hurt in the long run. Yes, such coverage *might* cause the local powers that be to do what it takes to make real progress on gun violence. The steps that really need to be taken are not easy ones, and Cheryl is right in wanting to avoid the absolutely sure financial struggles that St. Thomas will go through when this gets covered in big media. Unfortunately I suspect it is a "when" not "if" situation and that even that might not be enough to cause real change. Sorry, really depressed over this one, makes me wanna leave town!

I feel fortunate... My wife and I had pulled up just as the police were shutting the beach down. We were held in an appt. by about 30 minutes this morning and if we had not been, who knows.

It is a very sad day for St. Thomas (not making light of either victim's families in no way at all).

Also, a cruise ship arrived sometime today and departed this evening. Another instance of horrible timing as I'm sure word got around that cruise ship quickly!

Not a good day for 2 victims families or for St. Thomas in general.

Prayers for the victims and the families are going out. 🙁

Folks, word of this sad event is already out there on the most frequented/ popular cruise message board, "Cruise Critic" - topic went up as early as 12: 42 PM today, a 14 year old female pasenger from the Carnival Victory (as reported by an onboard passenger). I understand the ship departed later than scheduled this evening per passenger's post.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1234438

JMHO, but if this horrible incident forces the VI PD for better enforcement due to tourism / chamber of commerce pressures, as an earlier poster mentioned above, all the better for everyone's safety & benefit , "remember what happened to STX". The effect could be as egregious as limiting or temporarily cancelling STT as a port of call or passengers/ tourists will make their day visits to STJ instead of STT - just speculating.

Finally, certainly tourists should be made aware of the possible safety risks in STT - wouldn't you want to know for you & your family prior to visting a destination?

Prayers to the families of the victims. 🙁

If this gets to CNN and is covered like the previous murders we are in for a very difficult time. Murder in the Tropics! Law Less St. Thomas. Etc.

I have been saying that if the GOVERNMENT does not put an end to this it will ruin the island. Remember that those that are doing this don't care about the law or other people. They run to their own drummer! Our rate is only 10 times the highest main land city rate. Only ten times!

Our senators, and Governor, and police should do NOTHING except work on getting this under control! If not we will all be a third world country.

I just hope they get a handle on this.

billd

Cruise Critic post:

In searching for more information, I ran across these comments and was stunned to find this comment: "let us all seriously hope CNN and any other major network doesn't get wind of this."

I mean, REALLY? As a tourist, this IS something I want to know about. Sure, crime is everywhere and you have to be careful no matter where you are, but apparently this girl was on a BUS or some kind of vehicle en route to the beach. Completely random gunfire in the streets..... something tourists should be informed of, IMO....
__________________

If this gets to CNN and is covered like the previous murders we are in for a very difficult time. Murder in the Tropics! Law Less St. Thomas. Etc.

I have been saying that if the GOVERNMENT does not put an end to this it will ruin the island. Remember that those that are doing this don't care about the law or other people. They run to their own drummer! Our rate is only 10 times the highest main land city rate. Only ten times!

Our senators, and Governor, and police should do NOTHING except work on getting this under control! If not we will all be a third world country.

I just hope they get a handle on this.

billd

I must agree. The politicians and police have been warned time and time again, but either through incompetence or malfeasance they have not responded. The girl and her family hurt the worse, but so will the shopkeepers of St Thomas as the ships go elsewhere.

The wake up call is long past. Now all we can do is try to make amends.

My solution ...federal troops and a complete takeover of federal housing. This is war.

From TweetPhoto:

The Governor's statement:

http://www.governordejongh.com/blog/2010/07/Governor-Responds-to-Shooting-Incident-at-Coki-Point.html

so basically he's saying it's the people's fault, not the police or government. which is only partly true.

And now CNN as well.

CNN

I know of someone who has just revised thier VI trip for a trip to the Dominican Republic

Being "new" to the topic of how murders of cruise ship passengers can affect cruise lines choosing to call St. Thomas a "port of call", do you think this could spell the end of cruise ships coming in for a while?

MY uneducated guess would be a resounding and sorrowful "yes" and that possibility would seem to be devastating to the economy here. I mean, really... What cruise line wants to bring thousands of passengers/clients/vacationers to an island that has racked up a murder of one of their former passengers?

I'm not trying to start a debate or any "fires" in this forum, but looking for thoughts from those more familiar with the industry, be it from a cruise line's point of view or an islander's point of view.

Why was it that STX stopped being visited by cruise ships in the past?

(Oh, my wife is now worried about going to coki beach tomorrow... I told her the odds of it being a problem are similar to lightening striking the same area twice, two days in a row, but the more I think about it, I'm leaning more towards heading back to Waterlemon Key and Trunk Bay instead!

This is so depressing for the VI!

I am so saddened by this event, mostly for the victims and their families, but also for the many innocent people whose lives will be affected negatively. Unfortunately the people who can help the MOST are not reading this forum. A previous poster suggested that the governor was not accurate to "blame" the people of the territory. Governor DeJongh was not blaming any law abiding citizens who are just trying to get through life. We know that abetting here in the VI is one of the most prevalent crimes. It is rampant. It could change the face of crime here if people would simply stand up, and turn in the criminals. There are family ties, fear of recrimination and apathy...it's the way it's always been. Heart breaking.

I think the Governor is right on!
The families of these gangsters are as much to blame since they let them run wild. Yes I know some families try to no avail but many look the other way and will try to hide them.
The police is also to blame for not going after them enough, yes in this case they did, but in many cases they tend to look the other way.
The liberal courts are also to blame for continuing to let these "poor misguided" punks off with little or no time.

As Willie Nelson says in his song Beer for my horses , "it's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground"!

The governor should transfer all of the police force between STT and STX. That way there won't be AS MUCH of this don't pick him up because he is my ---- brother - cousin - friend - etc.

Juanita is right on point to bring up fear of recrimination. One individual may not have family ties to the perpetrators, but unless you have no family of your own an STT resident is vulnerable.

http://www.stthomasblog.com/?p=5351

Preach On Scott!