A shooting near the capital of St. Vincent and the Grenadines left four people dead and four others wounded Friday night, prompting an intensified police response in the Caribbean island nation as authorities search for those responsible.
Gunfire erupted shortly before 10:30 p.m. in the Green Hill community near Kingstown, according to Acting Commissioner of Police Trevor Bailey, who addressed the killings during a Saturday news conference.
Officers responding to the scene found two bodies on a public road, while a woman was found dead inside a vehicle parked nearby, Bailey said.
ROBBERIES, ASSAULTS AND RAPES SPUR NEW US TRAVEL WARNING FOR POPULAR CARIBBEAN GETAWAY
A fourth victim was discovered on an adjacent piece of land. All four appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds.
Four additional people were taken to Milton Cato Memorial Hospital with gunshot injuries. Two were treated and released, while two remained hospitalized at the time of the police briefing.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Brenton Smith said investigators were working to identify whoever was responsible and cautioned against speculation while the investigation remained active.
Police were also investigating a separate shooting in Ottley Hall early Saturday and had not determined whether the two incidents were connected.
"That determination must be made by investigators based on the evidence and not on rumors or assumptions," Smith said.
The killings come as authorities grapple with gun and gang violence across the small island nation. Smith said 37 murders have been recorded in St. Vincent and the Grenadines so far this year.
US UPDATES TRAVEL WARNING FOR QUAKE-HIT NATION, CITING DISASTER RISKS AND VIOLENT CRIME
Bailey acknowledged that police have seen instances of retaliatory violence involving rival groups but did not link the Green Hill killings to gang activity. Asked whether criminal groups could be connected to the latest violence, police said the investigation had not reached a point where they could make such a determination.
Authorities said additional patrols, random searches and intelligence operations were underway in Kingstown and surrounding communities as police attempt to recover illegal firearms and prevent further violence.
Local outlet iWitness News reported that the Green Hill attack was one of several shootings in recent years in which multiple people were killed, including a July shooting in Kingstown that left three people dead.
The outlet reported the identities of Friday's four victims based on its own sources, though police had not officially released their names when the report was published.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
The violence occurred in a country heavily promoted for its secluded Caribbean setting and high-end tourism. St. Vincent and the Grenadines consists of 32 islands and cays and is promoted by the country's tourism authority as a destination for sailing, beaches, coral reefs and secluded getaways.
Mustique, one of its inhabited islands, is known for private villas and celebrity visitors, while the broader archipelago is a major destination for yachts and sailing.
Police appealed for anyone with photographs, video, surveillance footage or information about people or vehicles potentially connected to the shootings to contact investigators.
