Sept. 10, 2005 – A Saturday morning shooting in Estate Profit has left a man dead and a woman seriously wounded. The events surrounding the latest murder to rock the territory began to unfold Saturday at 2:35 a.m. when police received a call of shots fired near No. 30 Estate Profit.
At the scene, officers found two victims, a male and a female, according to Deputy Police Chief Herminio Velasquez. The two victims had apparently been shot while sleeping in a tent.
The male victim is identified as 39-year-old Marcelino Rivera, a resident of Estate Profit. The female victim is Daisy Rodriquez, 40, also a resident of Estate Profit, according to Velasquez.
He said Rivera suffered a single gunshot wound to the body while Rodriquez suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Both were transported by ambulance to the Juan F. Luis Hospital where Rivera died of his injuries.
Early Saturday morning, Velasquez said Rodriquez was being prepared for emergency surgery. "Her condition is listed as serious."
A police source said Saturday that the "front of the tent facing the road was bullet-riddled and that several spent ammunition casings were recovered" from the scene. The same source speculated that the victims may have been shot at close range by the unknown suspects.
Persons in the tightly-knit Estate Profit community, who spoke Saturday on the condition of anonymity, said it appeared that the victims had shared a meal and were fired upon shortly thereafter.
"Plates, knives, food leftovers and soda cans were all clearly visible. Large blood stains and a pair of blood-stained bedroom slippers were left near the tent," the source said.
Velasquez said the motive for the shooting is unknown but homicide detectives are following a number of leads.
Rivera's killing is the 16th murder on St. Croix in 2005 and the 30th in the territory. The killing is also the third on St. Croix in the last two weeks.
Anyone with information on this or any other killing should call police at 778-2211, 778-4950 or emergency 911.
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