Turks and Caicos: Woman, 50, shot dead in popular restaurant on holiday - while vacationing for sister's birthday

The woman, a sheriff deputy from Chicago, was shot dead on Saturday (18 January) in a freak incident while vacationing in Turks and Caicos for her sister's birthday. Shamone Duncan was at Aziza Restaurant & Lounge in Providenciales when a shooting broke out around 10pm, according to ABC 7 Chicago.

Deputy Duncan jumped up while everyone else crashed to the ground and she was struck by a stray bullet and killed. An argument allegedly broke out downstairs before the shooting began, her son Shamon Payton told ABC 7.

He said: “People started yelling, telling people to get down. Everybody got down, and my mom got up. And then, she got hit.”

Her sister, Sharaye Baugh, who was vacationing with her, said a couple saw Duncan get up before “they saw her fall after she got hit,” she told NBC Chicago. “She probably stood up, what we believe, is because she's a Cook County Sheriff [deputy],” her other sister, Eshawn Spencer, who was also on the vacation, told the outlet.

Duncan served 21 years with the Sheriff's Office and had worked inside its notorious Cook County Jail. She was most recently stationed at Cermak Health Services.

Police have confirmed two died - Duncan and Dario Stubbs, 30 - in the attack and a 29-year-old was injured, according to ABC 7. Police do not believe any of them were targets of the shooting.

The Royal Turks and Caicos Island Police Force said in a statement: “I wish to take this opportunity to extend my deepest condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased. We condemn this violence and will remain resolute in our pursuit of the person(s) responsible for this despicable act.”