BELMOPAN, Tues. Mar. 9, 2021– A man was brazenly murdered in front of hundreds of people, in broad daylight on Tuesday, March 9 at the Belmopan Market Plaza. The victim, identified as Reginaldo Ruiz, was carrying out his daily work as a fish vendor in Belmopan when he was approached by a lone gunman and fatally shot. Another man was also reportedly shot during the fatal assault.

One of the hundreds of eyewitnesses of the incident, the victim’s employee, said that it was the worst day of his life to see his employer murdered in cold blood in front of his eyes. He told News5’s Andrea Polanco that the first bullet that was fired only narrowly missed him.

Ruiz has been a vendor at the Belmopan Market Plaza since it opened last year, and sold fish at the location every Friday. One man has said that he spotted a man believed to be the murderer fleeing the scene.

Ruiz was shot in the neck and succumbed to his injury.