Two well-liked Brits have been gunned down in St Lucia after masked gunmen opened fire at a popular bar, tragically killing one of them.
Donnie McKinnon was killed in the alleged attack yesterday and his friend Peter Jackson, a 72-year-old photographer from Accrington, was injured.
The pair were reportedly on the balcony of a bar on Market Road, Soufriere, when they were shot by masked gunmen.
Mr McKinnon, from Scotland, is said to have been a resident of Reunion, Choiseul and had been living in St Lucia for some time as the manager of the Soufriere Estate on the island, a 2,000-acre former working plantation.
Mr Jackson, from Lancashire, had been living on the island for over 30 years and is a well-known community activist and former director of the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation.
One person told the St Lucia Times: "Everyone knew them. They were community people. This is sad."
One local resident wrote on Facebook : "Still shaken. Near my family home at a bar on the waterfront. Two persons were shot. One died."
St Lucia has been dealing with a spate of homicides recently, as just last week a 38-year-old woman was shot dead.
In August a British pensioner was found dead and tied up under her bed in her home on the island.
Mr Jackson had written on Facebook in September: "State of our nation, St Lucia.
"On my way home, yesterday, I decided to grab a snack from Soufriere Beach Park. I heard a 'thud' and the young man picked up a switchblade which had fallen from his pocket.
"I asked why he needed it, he replied 'protection.' I said: 'No wonder we have 50 homicides already'. His reply: 'Do you want to be the 51st'"?
A friend reshared Mr Jackson's post on Saturday in the wake of the shooting, saying: "Get Well Soon Pete!
"This is one of Peter's recent posts about crime in St. Lucia. Isn't it sick irony that today he is a victim of violent crime in Soufriere? Thank God he didn't become number 68. It's very sad that Donnie is the 67th victim. My deepest condolences to his wife and family.
Image:
Getty Images/iStockphoto)"St. Lucians, we are destroying our country. We are murdering our own people. Wake up, we badly need healing. Turn away from evil and embrace LOVE."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are urgently seeking more information from the government in St Lucia about an incident which took place yesterday."
A spokesman from the local council said the authorities are investigating the shooting incident and will leave no stone unturned as they investigate it fully.
