Up until press time tonight, police had not charged the three men they have detained for questioning.
Police had received reports of a shooting in San Joaquin, and when they arrived at Sammy?s Store, they saw the 34-year-old businessman lying in the front of his store with a gunshot wound to the left side of his face.
Two men wearing masks entered the store, shot Sammy Li and then robbed him of an undisclosed amount of cash, said police.
Amandala sources inform that Sammy Li was in the presence of his wife and two children when he was shot. Sammy had his two-year-old daughter in his right arm and a padlock in his left hand, as he was about to close up for the night. But before he could do so, the two men entered the store and one fired a shot, hitting him in his left eye. He fell to the ground and so did the baby. Meanwhile, Sammy?s wife was with their 5-year-old son, hiding behind a freezer.
After the shooting, Sammy?s body lay at the right hand side of his counter in a pool of blood. On the floor of his store, canned groceries and coins were seen scattered.
His wife is still traumatized and has not been able to tell police much, our sources say.
An eyewitness who was in the area at the time of the shooting said that he was across the street from the store when he saw two men, dressed in full black and wearing masks, enter the store. Within 3 minutes, he heard a single shot and saw the two men running back out.
The first man, he said, had a bag in his hand, and he was followed by the second man, who, he said, also had a bag in his hand, as well as a gun.
Both men ran into an open lot near the San Joaquin Clinic, where they got into a getaway vehicle.
Ji Shen ?Sammy Li? Li, a naturalized Belizean, had been operating the store in San Joaquin for 2 to 3 years. His family declined to speak with the media. San Joaquin villagers told us that Sammy was a businessman who had won their respect and trust. They say that he had contributed tremendously to the community, assisting them on several occasions with different projects.
Sammy is said to be the only Chinese businessman whose business had shown promise in the village. Some four years ago there was a Chinese restaurant and bar, which also sold boledo, located opposite Sammy?s Store, but the owner closed down because business was apparently too slow. They said Sammy Li had customers who came to him all the way from Libertad, another village in the Corozal area.
Funeral arrangements for him have not been finalized; his body awaits a post-mortem.