_{Brandon Baptist, deceased}

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 3, 2025

A well-known gang leader from the Lake Independence area of Belize City was gunned down, and three other persons were hit by bullets, at the Marion Jones Sports Complex on Friday night, January 31.

The deceased was identified as 39-year-old Brandon Baptist of Police Street, a known affiliate of the BLC (Back-a-Land Crips) gang. Before the deadly shooting occurred, Baptist was called out from his home by an affiliate to the stadium where a football game was happening, allegedly because tension was brewing between his group and a group of men from PIV (Peace in the Village), a rival group within his neighborhood.

When he arrived, Baptist reportedly approached the rival group at the higher section of the bleachers and attempted to defuse the situation. However, unconfirmed reports suggest that Baptist pulled out a firearm and threatened the group, and was then shot by a member of the rival group. After being shot, Baptist reportedly continued to fight with the men, and was thrown over the bleachers, landing to his death.

“[I] and Mister Grinage met with the senior command in Eastern Division, Mister Romero, and his team, strategizing to ensure that we put things in place to avert any possible retaliation. And so, you’ll see that there [are] increased police operations in the St. Martin De Porres area, and that operation is going to continue for a very lengthy time, because we want to make sure that we have things in place to prevent retaliation,” said Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams.

Routinely when a murder of this magnitude occurs between rivaling groups, the Leadership Intervention Unit (LIU) would come in as a mediator to immediately attempt to defuse tensions to prevent any retaliation. However, ComPol Williams expressed that there will not be any yet.

“We’re not going to engage in any mediation at this time, because we don’t want to bring the groups together. Tensions are extremely high, and that might result in further escalation of issues. So, we will put aside mediation for now and allow the police to work. When we believe that heads have cooled down, we’ll see if we can bring them to the mediation table,” he said.

According to the ComPol, security at the game was lax, with few officers present who weren’t assigned to the event.

“I was not aware that game [was] being played. I also checked with Mister Romero [who] said he wasn’t aware of the game,” said Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams. “We are seeing that there is a trend where people are putting together sporting activities, and I will say in good faith, to bring rivaling groups together as a way of doing intervention through sports. But instead of applying to the Commissioner of Police for security, they find their police officers and get those police officers to provide security for them,” he added.

“Many times, the level of security they’re getting for these events isn’t adequate. There is no way on earth we would have allowed three police officers to work a game of such magnitude where they’re lone gang members … the organizers could have gone to Mister Romero and said, ‘We’re having this [football] game at this place and we’re applying for security to work.’ Mister Romero would approve the amount of police you would be required to pay for this event. So, what happens is that his response would be not less than 10 police. They don’t want to pay for 10 police. So, they would go behind him and go to the officers on the lower level … officers to get them to work for them, and then they get three. They go with that which is wrong, because then the officers would commit a breach of discipline for engaging in a special duty without prior approval from the Commissioner of Police or his designate, Mister Romero,” ComPol Williams expressed.

As mentioned above, mediation between both groups will be paused so as not to prevent the investigation from taking its course, which is a part of the police crime-fighting strategy. This leaves the question of whether the St. Martin De Porres area will be under a State of Emergency (SOE) in the upcoming days. ComPol Williams says that will be a last resort if everything else fails.

Baptist was a prominent member of the BLC gang, but eventually turned his life around and was employed with the LIU, his job to aid the younger generation in learning a trade as a way to stay off the streets.

“Brandon was one of the employees and beneficiaries and a friend of LIU,” said Dominique Noralez, Chairperson of LIU. “It’s unfortunate, and we all hope that it didn’t happen, but it did. So, our job now is to maintain and reassure communities that their jobs won’t be affected. Of course, they’re grieving. Someone they love, somebody they carried for nine months, somebody who they grew up with has died; and I need to say, you noh dehumanize anybody, no matter their history.”

Noralez pointed out her last interaction with Baptist before his untimely passing.

“I saw Brandon last Sunday and he was dressed up to the nine. I asked where he was coming from, and he said that he was coming from church; and I told him how we needed to arrange to go to a service together. Unfortunately, that cannot occur now,” she added.

Three other men suffered gunshot injuries in the incident – 37-year-old John Grinage, 21-year-old Cameron Williams, and 26-year-old Herson Mena, all from Belize City.  

No one has yet been detained.