Updated Tuesday, 2:04 p.m.
A man suspected of killing his father Tuesday morning is in custody following a manhunt on the Northside of St. Thomas, the V.I. Police Department reported.
Mohammed Salem, 34, was captured in the water off Tropaco Point in Hull Bay just before 1 p.m., according to the police. He is accused of stabbing and killing his father, Hakem Salem, 69, around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday at their Estate Lerkenlund home before fleeing the area. While he was on the run, the nearby Joseph Sibilly Elementary School was placed on lockdown.
Police issued an alert at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, warning that Salem was considered armed and dangerous and anyone with information should contact 911 immediately.
A slew of police vehicles was stationed along Hull Bay Road in the area of Estate Lerkenlund, just east of what is known locally as the E&M market, where Salem was often seen sitting on the side of the road, smoking cigarettes and gesturing with a thumbs up or thumbs down to passing motorists. On occasion, he could be found walking down the middle of the road in traffic.
Another police vehicle was parked outside Sibilly School, where officers could be seen patrolling in the courtyard.
According to court records, Salem was charged in March 2018 with the attempted murder of his father. Under a plea agreement, he pleaded no contest to a charge of third-degree assault, domestic violence, at a hearing in March 2019 in V.I. Superior Court and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was paroled in December 2020, according to a news release at the time from the V.I. Bureau of Corrections.
Hakem Salem’s death mark’s the territory’s fifth homicide of the year, and the third for St. Thomas, according to the Source Homicide List.*
Tuesday, 11:06 a.m.
A manhunt is underway and Joseph Sibilly Elementary School is on lockdown on the Northside of St. Thomas after a son killed his father early Tuesday morning, the V.I. Police Department reported.
In an alert issued at 10:30 a.m., police said Mohammed Salem is considered armed and dangerous and anyone with information should contact 911 immediately. According to the alert, the homicide occurred around 7:45 a.m. Police spokesman Glen Dratte confirmed the victim was Salem’s father, but did not yet have a name.
A slew of police vehicles was stationed along Hull Bay Road in the area of Estate Lerkenlund, just east of what is known locally as the E&M market, where the suspect was often seen sitting on the side of the road, smoking cigarettes and gesturing with a thumbs up or thumbs down to passing motorists. On occasion, he could be found walking down the middle of the road in traffic.
*The Source Homicide List is a chronological log of the homicides recorded in 2024 in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as reported by the VIPD. Cases are broken down by island. While this listing is based on VIPD reports, the Source does not include suicides or vehicular homicides in its listing, which the police and some other media do. This can lead to a discrepancy in the number of incidents reported.
