CHRISTIANSTED — A Dominican Republic bar owner was shot to death at the Peace and Love Bar on Market Street in downtown on Thursday night.
Juana Mateo Perez, 42, of Santo Domingo was identified as the woman shot to death when an unidentified masked man ran into the bar and shot her about 8:49 p.m. Thursday, eyewitnesses and authorities said.
When Mateo Perez was shot multiple times, there were “several” bar patrons inside Peace and Love at the time, according to the VIPD.
Police arrived on the scene and found an unresponsive Hispanic female, VIPD spokesman Glen Dratte said.
EMTs were unable to detect any vital signs on Mateo Perez.
Mateo Perez was previously identified as a bartender. She was actually the owner of Peace and Love Bar on Market Street near the Catholic Charities soup kitchen.
She was serving drinks to customers behind the bar when the masked gunman entered, shot her multiple times and then fled the scene, Dratte said.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau is actively investigating this incident.
The CIB is asking anyone with information to please call the CIB at 340-778-2211, Crime Stoppers VI at 1-800-222-8477 or 911.
It is the fifth homicide in the territory so far this year. All of the murders have happened in St. Croix.
