Arlington NAACP vice president shot while vacationing in Turks and Caicos, police say



CNN

NAACP Vice President Kent Carter, Arlington, Virginia Chapter, celebrated Sunday at a Turks and Caicos vacation, according to a statement from the NAACP and the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force. He was shot on his 40th birthday.

Police said two people, including tourists and staff of a local business, were killed in a targeted attack on their vehicle. The vehicle took tourists back to the hotel after the tour, according to a statement from Police Chief Trevor Botting.

It’s unclear how many gunmen were involved, but Botin said the shooting came from another vehicle.

Botting said he believed the attack was targeted and carried out by gang members who were “desperate for their lives and bent on causing indiscriminate harm and suffering throughout the TCI.”

“The violence is related to drug supply and is driven by reprisals, turf wars and reprisals,” Botin said.

Three other people were injured in the shooting, including another tourist, police said.

The second person shot was from a local business, police said.

Kent Carter was a gentle giant who was well respected throughout the community, Julius Spain, president of the Arlington, Virginia, chapter of the NAACP, told CNN on Friday.

Spain said the two met in Arlington shortly after Carter completed his military service in the military police and formed a bond over their upbringing and military ties.

Carter served as a civil special agent at various federal agencies before beginning his career as a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty in Arlington, Virginia.

CNN has reached out to KW Realty for comment.

After joining the NAACP, Carter led the Arlington Division’s Criminal Justice Committee, where he worked with state and local leaders on law enforcement reform and other civil rights issues, Spain said.

“Kent … sets an example for others to be a kind, respectable person in life, and it goes both ways,” Spain said.

“Members of the NAACP District 7 Committee were shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the tragic passing of Mr. Morrison. Kent Carter, one of the youngest incoming leaders in our association,” according to the NAACP The Association’s statement, which noted that Carter was in his fourth year as first vice president of the civil rights organization’s Arlington chapter.

The NAACP added: “He chairs the Criminal Justice Committee, where he played a key role as a member of the country’s police practice task force, which established a police accountability review with subpoena powers. committee.”

The senseless gun violence that led to Carter’s death shocked the Arlington community because “everyone knew Kent,” Spain said.

“He will be sorely missed. You can’t just replace someone like that,” Spain said. “He’s like my little brother and I miss him.”

Spain said Carter’s death would revive the community, as people were already asking how to be more like Carter in his criminal justice reform efforts.

“This week has been a week of pain and a week of reflection,” Spain said. “Reflections on the great work that people like Kent can do and the impact it has on the community.”

Spain said that once Carter’s body was brought back from the Turks and Caicos Islands, he would be taken back to his home state of Tennessee, where he would be buried in a military cemetery.

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