14-Year-Old Boy Held At Gunpoint As Thieves Ransack Place, Steal Phone, Cash

KINGSHILL — A 14-year-old boy told police he was held at gunpoint while thieves took his cell phone and cash at mid-island St. Croix on Wednesday morning.

Officers were dispatched by the 911 Emergency Call Center to investigate a robbery to at Old Fredensborg Village at 9:04 a.m. Wednesday, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.

“The victim, a 14-year-old male, reported he was alone at his residence when he was forcibly held at gunpoint while electronics, jewelry, and cash were stolen,” VIPD spokesman Toby Derima said.

The investigation revealed the suspects entered the residence through an unsecured door, according to the VIPD.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about this robbery to call 911, the Crime Tip Line at (340) 778-4950, or anonymously to Crime Stoppers USVI at (800) 222-8477.

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.