At about 9:30 on Tuesday night, an unidentified gunman fired wildly at a Belize Bus Owners Cooperative (BBOC) bus carrying 15 passengers, just after it had dropped off a passenger in Teakettle, a village in Cayo. The bullet entered through the fourth window on the driver’s side of the bus and exited through the fifth window on the right hand side of the bus, but fortunately no one was hurt.
The bus driver was an elderly man, Bernabel Salazar, 71, a former Novelo employee who has been driving for 29 years. Salazar suspects that he could have been the target of the shooter, and he told us that if he had not moved off at the time he did, maybe he would have been shot.
The incident was first publicized on Wednesday morning, by Transport Minister, Melvin Hulse, when he appeared on the Love FM Morning Show, as he spoke of heightened tensions in the bus transportation industry.
Salazar told Amandala that many people are speculating that the shooting is related to the ongoing bus war, especially on the Western Highway, between BBOC and National Transport. If someone wanted to commit a robbery, he said, why would they hide? They would have tried to get on the bus, he said.
Salazar told us that when he heard the shots, he sped up, but a speed bump only a few yards away forced him to slow down – which would have been a perfect opportunity for the gunman to jump on the bus if robbery was the motive.
It was not until Salazar arrived in San Ignacio that he reported the matter to police, and predictably, when police arrived on the scene, they found no gunman.
A police press release issued Wednesday said that Salazar, a bus driver of Eve Street, Santa Elena Town, had reported that “…whilst letting off passengers in Teakettle Village he heard what appeared to be gun shots and was informed by his conductor that two of the bus’ windows were damaged. Salazar stated that he does not know where the shots came from or who fired the shots. Police are investigating.”
Amandala’s Colin Hyde spoke with area residents of Teakettle on Wednesday, and he was informed that the shots were fired between the community center and the speed bump, right in front of St. Edmund Campion RC School. The shots, area residents say, seem to have come from north of the bus.
Salazar told Amandala that 15 passengers were on the bus when the shots were fired.
The conductor at the time was Teresita Figueroa.
BBOC chairman, Isabel Chan, told Amandala that this is the first time this has happened to a BBOC bus.
According to Salazar, the Government has recently given BBOC permission to run the Benque terminal formerly belonging to the Novelo’s, and they are due to start operations there on Monday.