BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A police press release issued this morning (Jan. 11) confirmed that two males were shot last evening in the Shadwell area.
The release stated that the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force is making investigations into the incident which occurred at about 8:10p.m. at Shadwell Estate.
“Initial investigations have revealed, two males were shot by an unknown assailant while sitting with a group of persons on a verandah at a home in the area. The assailant fired several gunshots at the group, striking the victims. Both victims were transported to the J. N. France General Hospital by private vehicle and are being treated for injuries.”
The release however failed to provide the names of the victims and did not state whether persons of interest were in custody or not.
SKNVibes made contact with the Police’s Communications Director, Grell Brown, who indicated that he did not disseminate the names because he was not given that information. However, at approximately 3:37 p.m., another member of the Police's Public Relations Department gave the victims names as 26-year-old Glenroy Rawlins of Buckley's Estate and Allan Phipps (27) of New Road Housing.
He explained that the delay was due to to the fact that the police had to inform the victims' next of kin before making that information public.
The press release indicated that members of both the Forensics Services Unit and the Violent Crimes Unit were at the crime scene and had “canvassed” it for evidence.
The police communiqué quoted Assistant Commissioner of Police Ian Queeley calling for the public’s assistance with information gathering.
“We urge anyone with information in relation to this incident to please contact the Police, if you were in the Shadwell Estates area last night (Sunday 10) around 7.30pm to shortly after 8.00pm and may have seen any unusual activity, please call us. What you may have observed may be of great assistance…This is the third such incident this year, three too many, and it will take the efforts of the Police, the community, all of us to rid our communities of this type of activity and ensure citizen safety and safe communities…”
Those who may have information about the incident are encouraged to contact the Crime Stoppers confidential hotline at (1-800-8477) or any police station within the Federation.
