*An NAACP leader from Arlington, Virginia was killed in an ambush while vacationing with his girlfriend in Turks and Caicos.
Kent Carter was gunned down over the weekend while traveling back from an excursion on Sunday, The Daily Beast reports.
Carter and the group he was traveling with were reportedly ambushed and their vehicle was fired upon “indiscriminately” by members of a gang who were armed with automatic weapons.
“As a result of this attack, two persons were murdered,” police commissioner Trevor Botting said at a press briefing, “one from the local business and another being a tourist from the United States.”
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Notification of Loss – NAACP Arlington Branch mourns the tragic and unexpected loss of our 1st Vice President, Kent Carter, who passed away Sunday, October 2, 2022, while vacationing abroad. pic.twitter.com/0kehwl0nYJ
— NAACP Arlington Branch (@NaacpVa) October 5, 2022
Responding officers reportedly engaged in a shootout with the gang and one of the gunmen was killed in the attack.
“Words alone aren’t enough to say how much this hurts, how much we grieve right now,” Julius D. Spain, president of the NAACP’s branch in Arlington, Virginia, told NBC Washington.
Carter was traveling with his girlfriend, Alonia Williams, and he used his body to shield her during the shooting, Spain told Fox 5.
The government for Turks and Caicos said Sunday’s incident “does not reflect who we are as a people.”
“These criminals proceeded to indiscriminately shoot into the vehicle transporting the employees and tourists,” Botting said. “Our deepest condolences go out to the families of those murdered.”
Premier Washington Misick, the head of Turks and Caicos, released a statement in which he urged tourists not to be apprehensive about vacationing on the island.
“The TCI has long established itself as a safe destination for visitors from around the world,” the statement from Misick read in part. “Evidence of this can be seen in the countless awards the destination has won, most recently at the World Travel Awards.”
Misick added, “On behalf of the government and people of these islands, we extend our sympathies to the family and friends of the victim.”
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