CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A native of Haiti was shot to death outside a Donoe area bar and restaurant early Christmas morning, authorities said.
Francois Champagne, 29, of Jacmel, Haiti was shot and died outside the Banana Split Bar and Grill on Brookman Road in St. Thomas about 4:15 a.m. today, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
“Officers were dispatched to the location where they found a man with gunshot wounds about the body,” VIPD spokesman Toby Derima said.
Champagne was transported via ambulance to the Roy Lester Schneider Hospital and Medical Center, where he died from the injuries he sustained in the shooting, Derima said.
In June 2006, two men were killed in a shooting near the Banana Split Bar and Grill. It is located between Donoe and the Tutu Park Mall on Brookman Road in St. Thomas.
Champagne said on social media that he studied at the Lycee Pinchinat de Jacmel in Haiti.
This case is being investigated by the Major Crime Unit.
If you have information regarding this incident please call 911, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) at 340-774-2211, or Crime Stoppers USVI at 1 (800) 222-8477.
There have been 40 homicides in the USVI in 2019. St. Croix has had 22 murders and St. Thomas has seen 18 killings.
Meanwhile, Champagne was out enjoying life at the Mi Bloque VI nightclub on St. Thomas dancing the night away on December 20, according to this video posted to Facebook below: