BELIZE CITY, Mon. Nov. 2, 2020– A Belize City man was lured to his death and one of his attackers was shot and killed on Saturday night in the old capital.
The murders played out at the corner of Allan Pitts Crescent and Caesar Ridge Road, and the deceased have been identified as Kareem Gillett, 32, a resident of Caesar Ridge Road, and Tareek Smith, 23, of a West Canal Street address.
Investigators have since unearthed a sinister plot to “snuff out Gillett’s life.” According to initial reports, around 8:45 p.m., Gillett was at home when he received a phone call from someone who requested that he meet them “at the corner”, where he was ambushed.
Upon his arrival at the location, a grey Ford Explorer approached from the Yarborough Bridge direction, and one person initially exited and fired multiple shots at Gillett, fatally wounding him.
During the attack on Gillett, a person who was with Gillett, pulled out a firearm and fired back at the shooter, who is believed to have been Tareek Smith.
Smith’s accomplices put him back in the vehicle and took him to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH), where he was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m.
It is not known if Smith was taken to the hospital in the vehicle that was used in the commission of Gillett’s murder, or in another vehicle. The Ford Explorer was later found at an area on Antelope Street Extension with suspected blood stains in the interior.
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams has indicated that this shooting stems from a rivalry between three warring factions in the city. He stated, “a group of young men from the Jerusalem area, this would be the extension, had rented two vehicles from an auto rental in Belize City earlier in the day with the intention of carrying out some shootings within the Southside area of Belize City.
“They went to Gillett’s residence and pretended to purchase weed. When Gillett came out, he was fired upon and a person who was with Gillett returned fire, causing Smith’s fatal injuries. Now you can see that while we can treat the killing as a murder, the subsequent shooting of Smith would have been classified as self-defense because he [Gillett’s acquaintance] was returning fire after Gillett had been shot, and he, likewise, would have been shot.”
According to Williams, even though the weapon used by the acquaintance may have been illegal, he says the law does make provision for that gun holder to defend himself or others from serious injuries or death.
“This matter seems to be an ongoing feud between South Side, Rocky Road and the Jerusalem crowd, and so we have put together teams comprising of our specialized units to be able to address the problem within those three particular areas of Belize City”, said Williams.
Several persons were taken into custody for questioning, but no one has so far been charged for either killing.