Armed thief dies after being shot by San Pedro accountant

The family of a thief must find a coffin to bury him in when he died after being shot during a robbery attempt in San Pedro Ambergris Caye. At about 10:15 last night, Sunday, a San Pedro accountant of Marina Street returned home on his golf cart and stopped to open his gate. The man told police that as he was getting off the cart to open his gate, two men came out of the shadows of the bushes and one of them pointed a gun at him.

According to the accountant, both men wore sweater hoods on their heads, and one of them, of fair complexion, was dressed in a black hooded sweater with the words “TEXAS TECH” emblazoned on the front. He also had a black warm hat over his face and a rag over his mouth.

That thief was armed with a black .9 mm pistol.

The other thief was dressed in a white hooded sweater with a rag over his mouth, and he was unarmed.

The gunman pointed the gun at him and told him not to move, and not to reach for his gun, the accountant told police. The accountant reported that as the gunman said this, he, the gunman, fired a shot at him, the accountant, but missed.
The accountant told police that he quickly took out his gun and fired several shots at the robbers, who ran from in front of the accountant’s house and into the bushes, disappearing into the night.

The robbery victim went to his neighbour’s house and called police, who came and searched the area, but probably because the area was dark and the light was inadequate, found no one.

Assistant Superintendent Luis Castellanos, Commander of San Pedro police, told Amandala that police went back to the area this morning to conduct further searches, and at about 8:00 a.m. found a man dead on the ground in the bushes in the DFC area.

The man matched the description of the gunman. ASP Castellanos believes that during the search last night, the man hid from police and died where he was hiding due to the severity of the gunshot wounds he suffered. He had been shot three times in the upper body.

The corpse was identified as that of Michael Wallace, 24, of San Juan, San Pedro, who was well known by police. Wallace was taken to the San Pedro Poly Clinic, where he was declared dead on arrival. His body has been deposited at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Morgue, where it awaits a post-mortem to certify the cause of his death.

Police who processed the scene announced that they found a black hooded sweater with the words “Texas Tech” on the front and a black warm hat. They also announced that they have recovered a 9mm CZ75 black pistol with an empty magazine from Michael Wallace.

Police have detained a man, 44, of the San Juan area, in connection with the robbery attempt.