Police reported that sometime around 9:00 this morning they responded to the sound of shots being fired at the corner of Dolphin and Bocotora Streets in the Queen Square area.
Police say that when they arrived on the scene, they observed a male person lying in the doorway of a small business on the corner, but when Amandala, the first section of the media to arrive on the scene, arrived within minutes along with the ambulance, the police were not yet there, and the victim had already been taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in a white car.
According to police?s initial investigations, the victim was driving his three-wheel bicycle cart selling meat pies when three male persons of dark complexion approached him and demanded money. According to the police report, the victim resisted, at which point one of the men pulled out a firearm and fired several shots. One of the bullets went through the right side of Erazo?s face.
Police said that they are seeking three persons in connection with this incident.
Amandala spoke with Lideberto Carvajal, 19, who was riding a separate three-wheel bicycle cart that also belongs to Erazo, in which he, Carvajal, was also selling meat pies and juice. Carvajal, who was still in shock, said that he was selling a young man juice, his cart parked adjacent to Erazo?s, when three men on bicycles rode up and one of them demanded money from Erazo. He said that everything happened so quickly. The gunman, told no by Erazo , pulled out a gun and fired two shots at Erazo, and then the three quickly rode off up Bocotora Street, heading towards the canalside.
As the shots were fired, Carvajal jumped on his cart and headed towards the tacos vendor at the corner of Dolphin and Bocotora Streets, noticing, meanwhile, that Erazo was seeking shelter in the shop on the other side.
?He was shot for no reason,? said Carvajal, ?because the thieves fled the scene empty-handed.?
Carvajal, after seeing that the men had fled, returned and took the cart Erazo was riding and parked it near his, by the tacos vendor, and then went to assist him.
Amandala also spoke with an employee of Olive?s Kitchen, Ernestine Stephens, who said that she and Olive Leslie, her employer, were in the kitchen preparing food when they heard two gunshots and then heard someone entering the shop. She said that before they could look out to see who it was, the man ran into the kitchen with blood pouring out of his mouth.
?I was so frightened that all I could say was, ?My God,?? said the employee. ?I deciphered more or less what was being said, because he mentioned ?policia? in the sentence. The man then ran back outside, but quickly ran back inside, giving us the impression that the shooters were still outside.?
She explained that they got assistance immediately from the driver of a white car, who transported the man to the hospital.
The newspaper briefly spoke with a female, who asked for anonymity. The young lady, who was quite shaken up from seeing the ordeal, said that she had to jump off her bicycle to save her life, as the second bullet fired by the gunman missed her head. She ducked, she said, just in time. She did not pick up her bike until about ten minutes after the policemen came on the scene, because she was still frightened.
Erazo was transported to Belize Medical Associates to take a CAT scan, which cost $700, about an hour after he arrived at Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. After the CAT scan, he was talking to his relatives and responding well, according to a doctor.
Police have detained one person pending charges. Erazo was in a critical but stable condition. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to please call the nearest police station.