BELIZE CITY, Mon. Oct. 18, 2021– On Saturday afternoon, a 25-year-old resident of Biscayne Village was reportedly shot by a drive-by gunman on Curassow Street in Belize City, while he was waiting to board a bus with his girlfriend.
The victim, since identified as Giovani Augustine, was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital shortly after the shooting but succumbed to his injuries. His body is now scheduled to undergo a post-mortem examination.
According to initial reports, he was standing on Curassow Street with his girlfriend — and was reportedly waiting to board a bus so that he could attend a funeral— when a heavily tinted white car drove up, and when it was in front of the couple, the driver fired shots from inside the vehicle, which fatally wounded Augustine.
A 27-year-old man, Faber’s Road resident Kareem Beeks, has been identified as the gunman and has since been arrested and charged for the murder of Augustine. Beeks was arrested shortly after the fatal shooting on Curassow Street.
Reports are that police have since recovered the murder weapon, which was found in the possession of an ex-police officer. Today police were reluctant to release any information connecting the ex-cop to this incident.
The ex-cop is claiming that the Police Department asked him to help them recover the weapon and that, while en-route to hand it over, he was searched. It has been reported, however, that the gun found belongs to a WPC (female police officer) who is reportedly the live-in girlfriend of the accused (Beeks).
“We have no proof of any body else being charged in connection with that murder in particular, and it is a fact that Mr. Beeks was charged, and so we can only report on the facts.” Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Director of the Police Department, told local media during a press briefing today.
At this time police are unable to release any information on the identity of the owner of the white vehicle used and have not confirmed reports which emerged over the weekend that the murder weapon has in fact been recovered.
“For right now, when it comes to this murder investigation, only when someone is charged, then I will release that information to the public. Like I rightfully explained to you, one man was charged. It couldn’t have been driven by more than one person,” said Yearwood.