Carnival Cruise Lines has suspended all excursions that include the Coki Beach area on St. Thomas, after a passenger from the Carnival Victory was killed by a stray bullet on Monday.
A 14-year-old girl was killed while riding with her family in an open-air safari bus en route to the beach. Gunfire erupted at a cemetery next to Coki Beach during a funeral service for a man shot to death in late June, and the girl was caught in the crossfire.
According to the Associated Press, the girl and her family hailed from Puerto Rico.
An 18-year-old male, not from the cruise ship, also was shot and killed. Another Victory passenger sustained a minor injury in the incident and has been treated and released from a local hospital, said Carnival.
"Carnival Cruise Lines is profoundly shocked and saddened by this tragedy, and we extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones in the wake of this unfathomable act of senseless violence," the cruise line said in a statement.
Although the family was not on a shore excursion sold through the ship, Carnival said it has suspended all excursions that include the Coki Beach area until further notice. Coki Beach, a popular snorkeling site on the island, is next to Coral World Marine Park.
The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism arranged for a charter flight to accommodate the family’s desire to immediately return home. Tourism officials stayed with the family until their departure Monday afternoon.
Police in St. Thomas have picked up three "persons of interest" in the shootout incident. A manhunt is under way, and police have issued a wanted poster for the driver of a red Honda who fled the scene, according to Novelle Francis Jr., police commissioner.
The 2,758-passenger Carnival Victory operates year-round, seven-day Caribbean cruises from San Juan. The ship departed San Juan on Sunday.