Dawson murdered – About 10 gunshots heard

Groups of residents watched in bewilderment as crime scene detectives combed the Sunday Morning Well area of Road Town tonight (March 10) for clues surrounding the gun murder of Ashburn Dawson.

He became the third person to be reportedly killed in the British Virgin Islands since the start of the year, and the second within the past 24 hours.

“Usually, we have about three murders a year; now we have three in under three months,” noted a man who tonight stood among a group of onlookers behind a police cordon tape at the Sunday Morning Well.

A short distance away, detectives in white clothing stood beside the motorcycle that Dawson was riding when he was cut down in a hail of bullets.

“I heard about 10 to 12 bullets about 9:41 this evening. Then, about 15 minutes later, I heard the ambulance and a bunch of scooters,” a resident told BVI News Online.

It is understood that scooter riders who usually hang out near the scene quickly left the area when the gunshots rang out.

Moments later, however, Dawson was found lying face-down on the roadway beside his mangled motorcycle.

Blood was dripping apparently from a section of his head.

Medical personnel, who arrived at the scene about 15 minutes after the shooting, tried to revive the victim before he was whisked away to Peebles Hospital.

BVI News Online has been told that Dawson was in critical condition when he arrived at the medical facility. Then, news came that he passed away.

“He was my good friend; I can’t believe!” exclaimed a man who apparently was struck by the bad news.

Police officers, up to midnight, were in the Sunday Morning Well area processing the scene.

It was their second major crime scene for the day.

Shortly after the crack of dawn, detectives were in the Windy Hill area of Tortola where the body of another man – Alston Penn – was found on the roadway.

BVI News Online has received reports that a stone(s) may have been used to inflict multiple injuries to Penn’s head. It is also understood that an item of clothing on his lower body was not in place.

The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, in a media release, appealed for people with information to pass it on to the police.

Meanwhile, on the night of January 6 this year, businessman Franklyn Fahie became the territory’s first homicide victim when he was shot in a bar he operated in the Long Look area of Tortola.

A total of four murders were recorded in the British Virgin Islands last year.