A 20-year-old man was arrested following a hail of gunfire at the John F. Kennedy Terrace housing community Wednesday afternoon on St. Croix.
According to documents filed in V.I. Superior Court and a statement released by the V.I. Police Department Thursday, the island’s ShotSpotter system detected 52 shots fired in the area Wednesday afternoon. Detectives from the department’s Criminal Investigation Bureau arrived at the scene to find spent shell casings and six vehicles with bullet holes. No injuries have been reported yet.
Police arrested Marcos Gilbert Jr. after finding a damaged, unoccupied Jeep Wrangler at the scene registered to the suspect’s father. Nearby, they found a backpack containing a PlayStation 5, Gilbert’s passport and flight ticket dated July 8, as well as a U.S. Postal Service package with three 60-round .556-caliber magazines, three 31-round 9mm magazines, three 22-round .40-caliber magazines and one 42-round .556-caliber magazine.
“Notably, the 42-round Promag magazine had been removed from its box,” Police Detective Salim Ross wrote in a probable cause fact sheet filed with the court.
According to the police, Gilbert said he dropped the car off at an Estate Glynn mechanic that morning. The mechanic confirmed that he had changed the oil and left it outside for pickup, and he noticed later that the car was gone.
Gilbert was arrested and charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, carrying firearms openly or concealed, evidence of intent to commit a crime of violence, and possession or sale of ammunition. His bail was set at $30,000.
VIPD spokesperson Glen Dratte told the Source Thursday that Gilbert, the “primary suspect,” was arrested roughly three hours after the shooting.
“This is a very active investigation and we are leaving no stones unturned,” he said.
Dratte did not directly say why it took law enforcement nearly 24 hours to issue a statement on an incident that prompted at least one nearby business to close and a number of anxious posts on social media.
“We are constantly alerting the community through our social media, radio stations, digital platforms and our Everbridge Emergency Alert System,” he said, adding that he’s looking into why a notification wasn’t made more timely. “We are constantly assessing and improving our alert systems throughout the territory.”
St. Croix Source
Local news, Police & Courts
