by Charles Gladden
BELMOPAN, Mon. June 10, 2024
After being shot multiple times last weekend in Santa Elena Town, Cayo District, well-known street figure David Galindo, 40, passed away on Saturday, June 8, while receiving treatment at the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan.
Galindo was one of the most prominent street figures out west, and had always been on the police radar whenever certain major crimes occurred. Last week, he became a shooting victim in an incident which transpired on June 1 on Salazar Street while he was purchasing something to eat, when someone reportedly blasted as many as 15 gunshots in his direction.
Reports are indicating that on the night that Galindo was shot, affiliates of his went to the San Ignacio Community Hospital where they terrorized medical officials while they were operating on Galindo. When reporters met with Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, he noted that one of the suspects who barged into the facility was a relative of the deceased, and was accompanied by another person.
“Police went to the area—statements were recorded, photographs were taken, the scene was processed, and police have gathered a bit of footage. So, we know exactly who the persons are that are responsible. From then to now we have not been able to locate those persons. One of the first concerns is, I think Minor Galindo is one of them; since then he has not been seen in the San Ignacio area. We understand he had fled somewhere. [The] fact that his brother had passed away, we believe that that might bring him out of his hole; and once he is found, then he will be dealt with along with another person, who was two mean aggressors at the hospital,” Williams said.
There have also been reports that there were no police to be found in the area, as they allegedly dropped off a wounded Galindo and departed.
“The police are to have done more to protect the hospital. Just dropping off the prisoner there, knowing that he was a high-profile prisoner, was not the right thing to do. They are to have stayed there and ensured that proper security was maintained, as we do at the KHMH when a gang member is shot. So, we take responsibility for that, and we will ensure that in the future, should there be any reoccurrence, the police will have a good system in place to respond,” said ComPol Williams.
He added that hospitals need to step up at an administrative level in terms of their security presence, as police officers cannot be at the hospitals, due to the need for them to patrol other areas in the community.
Reports at the time regarding Galindo’s shooting indicated that he was targeted by a rival group from Santa Elena. Before this incident, he had come close to death when he was shot in 2021 by someone from a rival group while walking home.