The brazenness of criminals in the Old Capital took on new meaning on Sunday, March 27. In an unheard of attack on lawful authorities, three men stormed into the Caribbean Shores, Belama Police Substation and shot a lone policeman on duty.
The purpose of the attack was apparently to steal the officer’s gun.
Nigel White, 23, a police constable recently assigned to the substation, located on Albert Hoy Avenue, was shot once in the center of his chest. He is currently enlisted in a critical condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, and two men have been detained.
While some Belizeans were attending a concert held over the weekend in Belize City, at around 12:30 a.m. three young men, two dark-skinned and one of Hispanic descent, arrived at the police station on bicycles and entered the building on foot; only one of the men was armed.
White was in the left section of the substation, because, we were told, the other section of the substation was under renovation due to leakage from the roof.
The three assailants instructed White, who was seated behind the desk, to lie flat on the floor, but White, we were told, pulled out his .38 Smith & Wesson firearm, serial #CDW9205, issued by the Police Department, but was shot by the gunman.
White fell onto the desk in a slumped-over position. The three men then walked toward the officer and took his gun; reports are that his wallet was not taken.
Luckily for White, a police mobile was in the vicinity of Belama doing their routine police station check-ins when they found White, who at this time was dripping a trail of blood as he pulled himself from behind the desk, to the doorway.
White was able to inform the arriving police that the culprits were headed in the direction of Belama Phase 3. Amandala tried to secure a comment from White and his family, but we were told by hospital representatives that they declined media interviews.
White is currently talking, but his prognosis is still unknown. He only recently entered the Police Department – just last year, and was among the last graduating class of police officers. He has since been on active duty for six months, and was stationed at the Belama Phase I Substation.
When we visited the police substation in Belama today, we found the building closed, and residents told us that on Sunday, the doors also were shut.