Man shot dead in Castries’ George V Park marks 14th homicide in Saint Lucia for 2024

Castries, Saint Lucia: A man was shot dead in George V Park on Saturday by an unidentified assailant. The incident marked the 14^th Homicide in the island nation so far.

The police have investigated the matter and the victim was identified as Darnell Alphonse, also known as alias ‘Coco.’ He was a resident of Georgeville at Castries.

As per sources, unknown assailants opened fire at Alphonse at around 7:51 pm, which resulted him severe injuries. The people across the site immediately reported the matter to the police. The emergency personnel from the Saint Lucia Fire Service (SLFS) headquarters responded to an anonymous call and they arrived at the scene.

Noting this, they examined the scene but left the location in the care of the police. The investigating officers found the lifeless body of the victim. They tried to take him to a nearby hospital but he succumbed to his injuries.

The case is currently investigating by the Saint Lucia police force and they urged public with any information to come forward and assist them with the investigation.

Further, this case of brutal shooting is noted as the 14^th Homicide in the nation since the beginning of the year 2024. The people are definitely in a state of fear due to the rise in crimes.

The authorities expressed their commitment and dedication to combat the criminal activities in their country. Noting this, the Prime Minister Philip J Pierre and Minister for Tourism- Ernest Hilaire urged zero tolerance for such situations.

Apart from this, such a situation will also have a negative impact on the tourism of Saint Lucia.  The government is taking all precautionary measures to reduce the flow of crimes but there are still some people in the federation for whom taking the lives of others is not a big deal.

While expressing the concern, a person named Wayne Pearson took to her Facebook handle and wrote, “Tourist will stop coming to the island soon, they won’t put themselves in danger. What was once the talk of the holiday scene for good reasons, is now the island people want to avoid. Authorities need to address this issue before its too late, no Tourist and the Island is finished as it relies on Tourist for sustainably.”

Another FB user, the name of Nikki Jones James stated, “O my god sometimes I does wonder and never stop wonder. Why all those killing for. What is the reason papa mon dieu, awa.”