Virginia NAACP Leader Kent Carter Killed During Ambush While Celebrating His Birthday
Kent Carter, the first Vice President of the NAACP Arlington Branch and well-known realtor, reportedly died during an ambush while he was celebrating his birthday on vacation in Turks and Caicos.
According to Washington D.C. station WTTG, Carter was on the island on Sunday evening (Oct. 2) when men pulled up next to him in another vehicle and began to shoot. The shooting was one of a series of events that resulted in three people being killed and five injured.
Turk and Caicos police commissioner Trevor Botting said during an initial police update that a local hospital was placed on lockdown and urged locals and tourists to stay away from the hospital unless it was an emergency.
On Monday, during a second press briefing, Botting provided more details, noting that a car with employees who worked nearby and two tourists who had just left an excursion was “the first targeted attack” at 6 p.m. local time Sunday.
"It was committed by armed criminals in a vehicle,” he said, according to the news station. “These criminals proceeded to indiscriminately shoot into the vehicle transporting the employees and the tourists. As a result of this attack, two persons were murdered, one from the local business and another being a tourist from the United States."
Since the attack, the NAACP Arlington branch issued a statement, saying: “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. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family. May God grant them strength during this time of sorrow."
The branch’s president, J.D. Spain Jr. told WTTG that Carter was “not only a friend but a true champion of civil rights and social justice."
Alonia Williams, Carter’s girlfriend, says he was with him when he was fatally shot and had gone to the beach before returning to their hotel in a shuttle. As the shooting broke out, she says Carter protected her by using his body as a shield.
WTTG reports that Carter was a former special agent and a veteran.
