Police on St. Croix are continuing to investigate a multiple assault that occurred at about 10:45 p.m. Friday on the Christiansted boardwalk. The fight left one 16-year-old girl dead and five other females injured from multiple stab wounds.
Police arriving on the scene observed six females between the ages of 15 and 18 injured with stab wounds to their upper bodies. The injured included one 15-year-old, one 16-year-old, two 17-year-olds and two 18-year-olds. Two additional females, aged 16 and 17, who were uninjured, were taken into custody by Juvenile Bureau detectives and held at the Youth Rehabilitation Center pending their appearance before a juvenile court.
It was the 25th homicide in the territory since the first of the year, the 17th on St. Croix in that time.
Police are interviewing witnesses and other people involved to determine what happened.
St. Croix Chief of Police Christopher Howell was on saturated patrol Friday night with members of the Special Operations Bureau, including K9 officers and the newly graduated police class. The officers found a large, unruly crowd at the scene and quickly gained and maintained control, according to Howell.
“We were among the first officers on the scene. Some individuals tried to aggressively force their way past the crime scene barriers despite warning from the officers,” the chief said. “The saturated patrol officers gained control of the crowd and administered life-saving emergency assistance to the victims alongside the responding EMTs.”
One witness told the Source that before police arrived, those in the crowd, most of which appeared to be intoxicated, jeered and made jokes about the fight and the girls bleeding on the boardwalk.
Howell said several onlookers also assisted the injured girls.
“There was one woman who identified herself as a trauma nurse, who performed CPR on a victim,” Howell said, adding he wanted to thank the woman but she did not give her name.
Howell cautioned parents about leaving their minor children unaccompanied after curfew hours.
“This is the very reason that we enforce the curfew law, despite the opposition we get from parents and the community,” Howell said.
