Murder in paradise
Expat Scot shot dead by masked gunmen in bar on Caribbean isle of St Lucia
A SCOT has been shot dead by masked gunmen at a bar on a Caribbean island in an attack that left another Briton seriously injured.
Donnie McKinnon, the former general manager of a luxury hotel in Aberdeen, had been out with expatriate friend Peter Jackson when they were gunned down as they stood on a balcony of the bar in Soufriere, St Lucia.
Mr McKinnon was fatally injured while his 72-year-old friend, from Accrington, Lancashire, was rushed to hospital where he was yesterday said to be in a stable condition.
His death was the 67th homicide on St Lucia so far this year, and police are now hunting his killers amid growing concern at the levels of violent crime on the island paradise.
The St Lucia Times reported that 13 gunshot-wound victims were received at the island’s Owen King EU Hospital on Saturday night.
The hospital’s chief executive officer, Dr Dexter James, said: ‘These crimes consume an exceeding amount of resources in emergency medical care that should be used for other patients.’
Officers are now questioning witnesses to the shootings of Mr McKinnon and Mr Jackson, which happened at Steve’s Bar on Saturday afternoon.
A spokesman said: ‘We are speaking to people who were present and may have seen something.
‘We will leave no stone unturned as we investigate this fully.’
It is unclear whether Mr McKinnon was targeted in the attack or was caught up in the incident.
The double shooting has shocked the local community, where Mr McKinnon managed the Soufriere estate which is popular with tourists for its ‘Diamond Waterfall’ and ‘Diamond Falls Botanical Garden’ attractions.
Both men were involved in charity work, with one local telling the St Lucia Times: ‘Everyone knew them. They were community people. This is sad.’
Mr McKinnon attended Lochaber High School in Fort William, and managed the five-star Marcliffe Hotel and Spa in Aberdeen between 2007 and 2009 before moving to St Lucia, where he had gained citizenship and lived in Reunion. Tributes were paid to him on social media, where he had shared pictures of his dog and attempts to mix Scottish and Caribbean cuisine.
Mr McKinnon had also documented a trip to visit ‘old haunts’ in Fort William in 2018. One post described his death as a ‘senseless killing.’
Mr Jackson, a keen photographer and community activist who is now being treated for his injuries in the St Jude Hospital, is understood to have emigrated 30 years ago.
St Lucia recorded four gunrelated murders in the space of one week last month.
Another man was gunned down in an apparent drive-by shooting.
The island’s Prime Minister, Phillip Pierre, recently said there ‘ought not to be one murder’ on the island, and called for ‘conflict resolution’ to solve disputes between individuals on St Lucia.
In 2021, the island recorded 75 homicides.
Formerly one of the the British Windward Islands colonies, St Lucia gained independence from Britain in 1979 but remains part of the Commonwealth.
The island is home to around 105,000 people.
Yesterday a Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are urgently seeking more information from the government in St Lucia about an incident.’
‘We will leave no stone unturned’