One boy, who is about 10 years old, told us that he became frightened when he saw a policeman fire his first shot.

?There was an exchange of fire,? recalled Nelma Mortis, principal of the infant division. ?I believe so because I am certain that I heard two different types of shots being fired. The policemen were trying not to shoot in the schoolyard, but had to, because the young man was shooting at them.?

The gunfire destroyed the tranquility of a normally serene environment. Mortis told us, ?Many of the children were terrified, and some of them were in tears because of the gunshots and the policemen who had to return to the compound to search for bullets, and were walking around the school yard with their big guns.

?Many of the teachers closed their windows and doors in an attempt to calm the traumatized children. None of the children were around the area of the shooting, due to the quick thinking of the vice principal.?

A father of two students who attend the school told us today that the police should not have shot after the man on the school compound.

Fortunately, none of the children or teachers was hurt in the incident.

Interestingly, today?s report of the incident, from the Police Department, did not say that the incident happened in the schoolyard.

The police said that sometime around 10:30 a.m., while they were on mobile patrol in the Queen?s Square area of Belize City, they observed a male person who, upon spotting the police, ran off.

The police also said that they pursued him; however, according to the police, the man pulled out a gun when he was approaching Supal Street, about a block away from Queen?s Square Anglican School, and shot at them several times. The police returned fire, and shot the man in the leg, they further reported.

Police allege that the man was armed with a Glock brand 9-mm pistol, and they found one live round of 9-mm ammunition in the gun.

The man whom police shot is Lincoln Robinson, 33, reportedly a businessman of the Cayo District who was in Belize City to visit his family.

Other reports from people in the area claim that Robinson was actually near an alleyway, near the corner of Alligator Street, where the school?s entrance is located, and West Collet Canal, when he had his first encounter with the police.

Denise, Robinson?s friend, claimed that Robinson, who was leaning over a bicycle, was actually waiting for her in the alleyway when the policemen stopped their vehicle and approached him.

Denise believes that Robinson did not want the police to search him, and so he ran away.

School officials told us that Robinson hopped the school fence in his attempt to escape from the police.

Mortis said that Robinson ran among the children who were on break in the schoolyard, and the policemen ran behind him, making sure to avoid the children, she added. The chase ended at the southern end of the schoolyard, near the principal?s office, where the young man was cornered and shot, she told us.

The bullets from the policemen?s guns reportedly left about five large holes in the school?s concrete fence.

While the principal recalls shots being fired after the police caught Robinson in the schoolyard, Denise said that it was while the policemen chased him through the alley that they fired about 9 to10 shots at him. She further claimed that she heard only one type of gun being fired, and she strongly believes that Robinson did not have a gun, as the police have alleged.

She also disputed reports that Robinson was shot in the schoolyard. She told us, ?He [Robinson] was even hit on the head with a gun butt after he was lying on the ground [in the alleyway] with his gunshot wounds.?

Robinson?s sister, who lives nearby, told Amandala that she had heard the shots, and she ran out of her house, not knowing that it was her brother at whom the policemen were shooting. She said that he had moved from her front door about two minutes before she heard the shots.

After the shooting, Robinson was taken, under police guard, to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for treatment.

The police said that he would be charged immediately after his release from the hospital. However, they did not indicate what charges would be levied against him.