A Belize City taxi driver appeared in the Magistrate’s Court this morning and was remanded to prison after he was arraigned on charges of attempted murder, use of deadly means of harm and dangerous harm.

The charges are in connection with a shooting incident that occurred early Monday morning, when taxi driver Albert Castro was shot in the head.

After reading the charges, Magistrate Herbert Panton told Frank Brown, 37, also a taxi driver, “I don’t know if you are aware, but these matters are indictable; I cannot take a plea from you.”

Panton remanded Brown to the Belize Central Prison until his next court date on August 19.

After the shooting, Castro was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH), where he was admitted in a critical condition.

There was a premature media report that Castro had succumbed to his injuries, but a relative said that he remains in a critical condition.

Police reported that on Monday, June 30, around 3:30 a.m., they visited the KHMH, where they saw the thirty-one-year-old Castro suffering from gunshot wounds to the head.

According to police, Castro was driving his green Mazda taxi, and when he and his passenger, a twenty-six-year-old woman, reached the junction of Fabers Road and Watermelon Street, they were approached by two men on bicycles.

One of the men pulled out a handgun and opened fire at the car and its occupants.

Castro was hit a number of times. His female passenger, however, was not hit during the attack.