KINGSHILL — A business owner with a gun shot a homeless person dead after he said he felt threatened by the man as he was leaving his store near mid-island St. Croix on Saturday morning.
Michael Brathwaite, 44, of St. Croix, was positively identified by next of kin as the deceased, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
The 911 Emergency Call Center, received several phone calls of a shooting at the Barren Spot Village Mall at 11:47 a.m. Saturday, according to the VIPD.
Upon the detective’s arrival, they observed an unresponsive black male lying on the ground, police said.
Detectives were approached by a black male who identified himself, according to police. He proceeded to inform the detectives that he shot the deceased and that he has a valid licensed firearm.
The unnamed man provided detectives with his firearm I.D. and his firearm which were collected by forensics, police said. He was instructed to travel to the Police Operation & Administrative Building at Mars Hill, Frederiksted, where he was advised of his rights, and he agreed to provide a statement.
“He stated that when he stepped outside his business, he observed the black male walking towards him aggressively holding an object in his hand, saying: ‘I going to kill you,’” VIPD Communications Director Glen Dratte said. “He felt that his life was in immediate danger and drew his firearm and discharged two shots at the black male. The black male then dropped a rock, ran, and fell to the ground about twenty feet away.”
Emergency Medical Technicians were dispatched and found that Brathwaite had no vital signs, according to Dratte. His remains were collected by DOJ Medical Examiner’s Office technicians pending an autopsy.
The business video surveillance footage was turned over to forensic into evidence and reviewed and it concurred with statements collected on the scene, according to police.
“Preliminary investigation disclosed that the shooting was justifiable,” the police spokesman said.
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