Fernando Quib, 33, a truck driver from San Vicente village in Toledo, was killed in Orange Walk Town on Thursday after being shot several times in what is believed to be an armed robbery.
Police said that Quib was sleeping in his truck on Banak Street in Orange Walk Town around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 16, when a gunman or gunmen shot him multiple times through his vehicle window. Quib was shot in his rib cage, the center of his back, the upper part of his stomach, and was grazed on his left arm.
Police, who were reportedly told by neighbors in the area that they heard gunfire that Thursday morning, sent a mobile patrol to the area where they saw the truck damaged by the bullet holes.
When they checked the truck they saw Quib in the vehicle cab suffering from gunshot wounds. They recovered nine 9-mm expended shells from the scene.
Quib was rushed to the Northern Regional Hospital, but died shortly after, while doctors were working on him.
His family travelled all the way from southern Toledo to receive the body for burial in his village.
Quib’s employer, Carlos Estrada Pinto, told police he believed that the motive for the attack on Quib was to rob him, because no money was found on him, and he was known to be in possession of around $3,000. Pinto told police that he had sent Quib to buy a truckload of swine and cattle in Blue Creek and Shipyard, but Quib had reported that he was having problems with the vehicle’s brakes and couldn’t take the animals in his truck.
Arrangements were made and the animals were taken in another truck. Quib reportedly went to a mechanic to get the brakes repaired, but when he arrived, the mechanic told him that he was already closed. As a result, Quib was forced to wait until the morning for the brakes to be repaired, and he slept in his truck that fateful night.
Pinto said that Quib had already handed over $13,000 to another person, who went to buy the animals and he only kept $3,000, and that was what the thieves who murdered him wanted.
Quib was a good worker, a humble and trustworthy young man, said Pinto. He was a longtime employee and he was honest, and he (Pinto) trusted him with his money. Quib drove from Toledo to Orange Walk two or three times per week to buy animals, said Pinto.
Quib’s brother told police that Quib had been driving a truck transporting animals from the Orange Walk District to Toledo since he was 20, and that he was a good driver, and fearless.
Quib was laid to rest in his home village cemetery today, Monday. So far, no one has been arrested; neither have any suspects been detained.