KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An East Tennessee native was laid to rest in Knoxville after he was killed in a shooting while vacationing in the Turks and Caicos Islands earlier in October.
Police in the Turks and Caicos said Kent Carter was with another tourist and three guides from a local business when their car was attacked by gang members.
Police said Carter and a tour guide died in the shooting. Three others were also wounded.
"I believe the attack was targeted and carried out by armed gang members who act without conscience, who have no regard for life and who are hell-bent on causing indiscriminate harm and misery across the TCI," Commissioner of Police Trevor Botting said in a press conference. "This violence is linked to drugs supply and is fueled by revenge, turf wars and retribution."
Investigators said the attack ended with a shootout with police.
One other person, believed to be one of the suspects at this time, was killed during the police response to the gunfire, and two others were hurt, including one of the officers.
Carter was born in Oak Ridge and raised in East Tennessee.
He graduated from Clinton High School before he moved to Virginia in 2009 and started working as a realtor. He was also the vice president of the NAACP Arlington Branch. He was a U.S. Army veteran and served two combat tours in Afghanistan in the 2000s.
His family held a visitation on Saturday, Oct. 22, in Arlington, Virginia at Mount Olive Baptist Church starting at 10 a.m. His funeral followed the visitation.
His family said he would be laid to rest in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 27. A service was held at the East Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery in Knoxville at 10 a.m. and was open to the public.