A short time after he was “recaptured” by Royal Virgin Islands Police officers and shots were fired on Wednesday, inmate Santo Yamarco Hernandez succumbed to injuries sustained during the incident, police reported.
Until this week, Mr. Hernandez had been one of three inmates from Her Majesty’s Prison who remained at large after Hurricane Irma.
Early Wednesday morning, officers followed a “receipt of intelligence” and searched a residence in the Butu Mountain area.
Police said Mr. Hernandez “aggressively engaged” them and the officers fired shots. Around 11 a.m. that day, police stated in a press release that Mr. Hernandez had been “subdued,” was in “stable condition” at Peebles Hospital and under police security.
On Thursday afternoon, however, police reported that Mr. Hernandez had died, though it is unclear at exactly what time.
After consulting with Governor Gus Jaspert, the RVIPF decided that an independent police force will investigate the incident, a “standard protocol in any police-involved shooting with a forced weapon,” police said in a press release.
Commissioner James Smith of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force has agreed to take on the investigation and officers from his department will arrive to the Virgin Islands on Friday.
“This is an opportunity to offer the transparency needed for evaluating officers’ actions in this incident,” Acting Commissioner Alwin James said. “We must be prepared to review our actions and allow others to do the same. This is a critical component to the service we provide to the public.”
When asked directly if Mr. Hernandez died as a result of shots fired by the police officers, Police Information Officer Diane Drayton said she could not comment before getting the results of the independent investigation and the coroner’s report.
Persons with information about Mr. Hernandez’s whereabouts prior to the incident are urged to contact the RVIPF Intelligence Unit at 368-9339.
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