Piqua Man, 39, Killed in Shooting in U.S. Virgin Islands
Information from the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department 

UPDATED: 1:30 p.m. Nov. 2
ST. THOMAS - A 39-year-old Piqua man was shot and killed early Saturday on St. Thomas after a woman told police that she and her friends had been chased and shot at by someone in another vehicle.

   Evan Haynes Jr. was identified by the Virgin Islands Police Department as the victim. The shooting was reported at about 4:42 a.m. Oct. 31 on Hull Bay Road, on the island’s north side.
 

   According to police, a resident called 911 to report hearing multiple gunshots in the area. Shortly afterward, a woman called 911 and said she and her friends were traveling along Hull Bay Road when someone in another vehicle chased them and fired at them. She said one of her friends had been shot and needed immediate medical help.

   Police officers and emergency medical technicians responded and found Haynes with gunshot wounds and no vital signs. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

   The St. Thomas Source, which identified Haynes as a Piqua resident, also reported that a woman was shot. Her condition was not immediately known.
 

   Police have not said what led to the chase, whether the people involved knew one another or whether a suspect has been identified. Authorities have not linked the shooting to other recent homicides in the territory.

   Haynes’ death was the 18th homicide on St. Thomas this year. Late Saturday, a 31-year-old woman, Torae Sanders, was fatally shot in the driveway of her home on St. Croix. Police said her death was the 28th homicide on that island in 2026, which brings the territory’s total for the year to 46.

   Anyone with information is asked to call the VIPD Criminal Investigation Bureau at 340-774-2211, ext. 5554 or 5556, or 340-714-9828, or Crime Stoppers V.I. at 1-800-222-TIPS.