Arrests Near In Virgin Islands

Police have a witness to the shootings of three American tourists and are close to making arrests, the police chief said Saturday.

Marie Sardella, 53, of Walpole, Mass., and Walter Schenk, 58, of Philadelphia, were in critical but stable condition Saturday after surgery in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said a nurse at the intensive care unit. Both had been shot in the head.

Atlantic City, N.J,. restaurateur William Garrity, 52, was recovering from shots in the stomach. Gov. Roy L. Schneider visited Garrity on Friday and promised “an aggressive approach” to stopping crime.

Schneider ordered roadblocks, vehicle searches, and a curfew to keep youths home at night after Wednesday night’s attack in southeast St. Thomas, the main island of this U.S. Caribbean territory.

Police chief Ramon Davila said no motive has been established and the victims’ wallets were intact.

“I expect we’ll be making arrests very soon,” Davila said. “We have witnesses.”

The following fields overflowed: DATELINE = CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS