photo courtesy of NAACP Arlington
Vice President of the NAACP Arlington, Virginia branch, Kent Carter, was shot and killed on October 2 while vacationing in the Caribbean.
Carter was shot while he was on vacation in Turks & Caicos, celebrating his 40th birthday. According to CNN, two people were murdered in the violent act that police believe was a targeted attack. It occurred while a vehicle was returning tourists to a well-known hotel after a day of excursions.
Chief of Police Trevor Botting said that the unidentified shooters were likely gang members and that they “
have no regard for life and who are hell-bent on causing indiscriminate harm and misery across the TCI.”Multiple other people were injured in the shooting, both tourists and local business owners. Botting continued, “The violence is linked to drugs supply and is fueled by revenge, turf wars and retribution,”
Carter was described as a gentleman who was prominent in the Arlington community. The President of the NAACP Arlington branch, Julius Spain Sr., said, “Kent set the example for others to emulate in life as a kind-hearted, respectable person, and it went both ways.”
“He’s going to be dearly missed. You can’t just replace a person like that. He was like my little brother. I miss him.”
Spain continued to say that he expected the tragedy to prompt people to want to do more to combat gun violence –which had been increasing in the area, according to the TCI police department.
“This week has been one of pain but also one of reflection,” Spain said. “Reflection upon the enormity of good work that a person like Kent can do and the impact it has made on the community.”
He continued to say that Carter would be buried in a Tennessee military cemetery.
The NAACP released a statement, “NAACP National Board Members for Region 7 are astonished and deeply saddened to hear of the unfortunate death of Mr. Kent Carter, one of the youngest upcoming leaders in our association,”
The organization noted that Carter was already in his fourth year as the vice president of a civil rights group based out of Arlington.
“He was chairman of the criminal justice committee where he was instrumental in advocating as a member of the country’s police practices working group that established a police accountability review board with subpoena power,” the NAACP added.