A 48-year-old man shot Wednesday evening at Basic Grocery in Estate Glynn on St. Croix is in critical condition at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital.
Police on St. Croix are investigating the shooting, which occurred just before 5 p.m. Less than 20 minutes after the shooting, police captured the suspect and confiscated the firearm.
According to the preliminary police report, the suspect, who was later identified as 38-year-old David Rios, was arguing with a 48-year-old man near the Estate Glynn bus shanty. Rios and the man walked into the grocery store where they continued to argue.
Rios allegedly shot the victim at least two times hitting him in his upper body and then walked out of the store, leaving in a brown Kia Rio.
A K-9 officer was passing by the store shortly after the incident and was stopped by a concerned citizen, who gave a description of the suspect and vehicle.
The officer spotted and stopped the vehicle. Rios exited the vehicle, threw down his weapon, and surrendered to the officer without incident. Rios is now in police custody and will be remanded to Golden Grove Correctional Facility pending further court action.
According to JFL spokeswoman Xaulanda Simmonds-Emmanuel, the victim was still in critical condition Thursday afternoon.
Rios was charged with first-degree assault, unauthorized possession of an unlicensed firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. His bail was set at $75,000, and he was remanded to the custody of the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility pending further court action.
