A man died Monday evening after a shooting in the Whim area of St. Croix, according to the V.I. Police Department.
The St. Croix 911 Emergency Call Center received a ShotSpotter notification and multiple reports of shots fired in Whim at about 6:04 p.m. Monday, according to a VIPD poilice report. Officers, Emergency Medical Services personnel and other emergency responders were dispatched to the area, where they found a victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
The victim was transported by ambulance to Juan F. Luis Hospital for treatment but later died from his injuries, police said. Family members identified him as Rusiel Encarnacion. He was 45, the police report stated.
Police said the case remains under active investigation.
Encarnacion’s death marks the 10th homicide for St. Croix and the 19th for the territory, according to the Source Homicide List.*
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact 911, the Criminal Investigation Bureau at 340-778-2211 or Crime Stoppers VI at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
*The Source Homicide List is a chronological log of the homicides recorded in 2026 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.
