Three dead, 10 injured in Turks and Caicos; premier blames Haitian gangs

Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald on Jul 28, 2025

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A night of partying out in the Turks and Caicos Islands turned deadly over the weekend when three people were killed and 10 others were wounded in a mass shooting spree in the sun-soaked tourist destination.

The island-chain’s first mass shooting, the incident unfolded at 2:57 a.m. Sunday when officers with the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands responded to reports of gunfire at a popular nightspot in Providenciales called the Island Hookah and Cigar. The lounge is located on Leeward Highway, the main thoroughfare.

On Monday, police issued a $10,000 reward for anyone with information and identified the dead, whose photos began circulating — along with video — shortly after the shootout. The dead were identified as Yeiscol Rhinel Rodriguez Florestino, 25; Keell Silver, 39; and Erlin Dorastin, 27. They were pronounced dead at the scene, police said Monday in a statement. Of the 10 individuals who were transported to a local hospital, two had been discharged as of Monday while the rest remained hospitalized including one individual in critical condition.

Police Commissioner Fitz Albert Bailey noted that until the incident, the island-chain had been experiencing a 30% reduction in its murder rate. “However, this incident and the murder of the two brothers,” he said referring to a separate incident, “have significantly impacted on our efforts.

“The current murder figures stand at 22 compared to 25 for the same period last year,” Bailey, who was recently brought in from Jamaica to oversee the overwhelmed force, said Sunday after the incident. “This deeply disturbing event has shaken families and the wider communities.”

Police “are working around the clock,” he said, to determine the circumstances of the incident and to identify and apprehend those responsible.

Bailey said all the weapons used were high-powered and at least four shooters were involved, based on what police saw on closed circuit television. They “had not yet established a clear motive” and were looking at several theories, Baily added.

Still, despite his statement and call for unity, the island-chain’s premier, Charles Washington Misick, linked the incident to a Haitian “gangland type slaying,” roiling tensions in the community of less than 50,000 people after presenting no evidence.

“A lot of this gang violence now seems to be concentrated in our Haitian communities,” Misick said during the press conference. “I’m going to appeal to our Haitian nationals, our Haitian brothers and sisters, the leadership in the Haitian community, to make a concerted effort. The government stands behind those persons who are law-abiding, legally resident in this country, who wishes the best for their families and the other citizens of these islands. And we want a dialogue with you.”

“But the leaders,” he added, “it is your responsibility as it is as much as anybody else’s responsibility to keep these islands safe.”

Located 600 miles southeast of Miami, the British overseas territory was among several Caribbean nations that an incoming Trump administration was eyeing as a possible location to send undocumented individuals deported from the United States. Turks officials, along with their counterparts in the neighboring Bahamas, rejected the idea outright, citing their own challenges with Haitian migrants.

While one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean because of its crystal-clear beaches, the Turks and Caicos is also earning a dubious reputation for its high homicide rate. As a result the chain’s British governor has appealed for additional law enforcement help from Jamaica and The Bahamas, while local lawmakers have passed stricter firearm-offenses laws.

One of the laws calls for mandatory minimum sentences and led to the arrest of several U.S. citizens last year after ammunition was found in their luggage. That same year, the archipelago recorded the highest homicide rate in the region when it logged 48 murders as of Dec. 19. The number far exceeded the 24 deaths it registered in 2022, and most of the slayings were among the local population.

The increasing levels of violence in the Turks and Caicos have been attributed to gang and drug smuggling networks that involve Haitians, Jamaicans and local Turks Islanders known as “Belongers.” And while local police have faced challenges in solving crime due to their small size and lack of technology, the surge is part of a worrying trend in the Caribbean, where an increase in violent crimes and gang violence has led governments to declare a state of emergency while describing the surge as an epidemic and public health threat.

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