Police probe fatal shooting in Hospital Ground

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Police are investigating after a shooting left one man dead in St. Thomas on Thursday afternoon.

Ashton Alexander, 42, has been positively identified by a family member as the homicide victim, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.

The case began at 5:37 p.m. Thursday, when the Shot-Spotter detection system alerted 911 dispatchers that multiple shots had been fired near Prindsens Gade, an area commonly known as Hospital Ground, according to the VIPD.

Several concerned citizens also contacted the 911 emergency call center to report “several shots fired and a male down,” VIPD Communications Director Glen Dratte said.

“Responding officers made contact with an unresponsive black male who appeared to have suffered multiple gunshot wounds about his body,” Director Dratte said.

Emergency Medical Technicians also arrived on the scene and checked Alexander for signs of life.

EMT’s concluded at 5:46 p.m. that Alexander did not have any vital signs and pronounced him dead on the scene, according to Director Dratte.

This case is being actively investigated by the Major Crimes Unit.

Anyone with information about this crime is urged to please contact the Virgin Islands Police Department at 340-774-2211 or the Criminal Investigation Unit’s Major Crimes Division at 340-714-9823 or 340-714-9829.

You can also contact Crime Stoppers USVI at 1-800-222-8477.

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.