CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A St. Thomas man was shot dead in a dispute over access to a land property, authorities said.
Alphonso Wade III, 56, of West Caret Bay was arrested at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and charged with voluntary manslaughter, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
The 911 Emergency Call Center received a report that someone was shot in West Caret Bay at 4:14 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the VIPD.
“Officers traveled to the area and found an unresponsive male, who appeared to have sustained a gunshot wound to his upper body,” VIPD spokesman Toby Derima said.
Emergency Medical Technicians, on the scene, concluded the male did not have any vital signs.
The male was identified as 62-year-old Oliver Christian, Jr.
“Preliminary investigation revealed Christian was shot due to a dispute involving access to land property,” Derima said.
Meanwhile, the social media reaction to this article was critical of the “slow” police response to the victim Christian.
“On an Island the response was three hours and 15 minutes!!!!” Soji Thomas said on Facebook. “I’m not there but this response time may have been critical to survival… So officers arrived first on this scene three hours later??? V.I. Free Press. I would definitely like to see a follow up with more details surrounding all of this to include emergency systems response times and actions!! ????/G\”
Bail for Wade was set at $125,000. Unable to post bail, he was remanded to the custody of the Virgin Islands Bureau of Corrections pending an advice-of-rights hearing.
This case is currently under active investigation.
Any persons having information regarding this incident area asked to contact police by calling 911, the Criminal Investigation Bureau at (340) 774-2211 extension 5569 or Crime Stoppers USVI at (800) 222-TIPS.