The vicious killings continue in unrelenting regularity, and on Tuesday in Belize City, around 8:00 p.m., another resident was shot to death by two members of the increasingly brazen criminal element.
The murder scene this time was an unlikely spot: the yard of the House of Commoners, home of the Commoners Reform Movement, at #63 corner Vernon and Partridge Streets.
The victim, Norman “Pango” Gillett, 36, appeared to have never had a chance. He was reportedly coming down the stairs of the two-story, part concrete and part wooden building on Tuesday night when the gunmen (police cannot verify that there was only one gunman), who had jumped over the chain-link fence on the Partridge Street side, started firing.
A desperate Gillett turned and tried to escape his attackers by running back up the stairs to the top floor, but they relentlessly pursued him, firing as many as 23 times, police reported, and ended his life with three bullets in the head at the top of the stairs, before jumping back over the Partridge Street fence and escaping the area.
Police say that additionally, Gillett was hit in the left leg, chest, stomach, right arm and face.
The foul deed took place in a driving rainstorm that struck the City at about that time, but police responded almost immediately and recovered an astounding 23 expended shells from the scene. Police say that one suspect has been detained and they are looking for two others of interest.
Partridge Street resident Herman Miranda, 21, who was found at a house not far from the murder scene on Vernon Street after the shooting, appeared in court on Wednesday on charges of keeping ammunition without a gun license after he was found with two 9mm rounds in his left front pants pocket. He pleaded guilty in court and was sentenced to two years in jail.
Miranda and a male minor were picked up within minutes of Gillett’s death and wide speculation was that Miranda would be charged with the murder today. CIB boss Superintendent Julio Valdez confirmed to Amandala late this afternoon, however, that the matter remains under investigation and that no one, including Miranda, has been charged for Pango’s death as yet.
Reports to Amandala are that police later recovered the guns suspected to have been used in the incident, identified as brand new nine millimeter Glocks, at an abandoned property on Partridge Street near Lord’s Ridge Cemetery.
On Wednesday morning, the mood at Commoners was one of quiet resignation and even at this time, disbelief.
Amandala spoke to several of Gillett’s friends and housemates (Commoners is a sort of shelter for persons in difficult circumstances, and Gillett was one of the house’s occupants), who remembered him as a friendly person with no enemies that they knew of.
According to Commoners spokesperson, community activist Patrick Rogers, Gillett had come to them from a past association with the Majestic Alley gang, but was trying to turn around his life and had started a woodcarving business.
According to one of Gillett’s friends, he had just recently been commissioned for a job outside Belize City, and was preparing to leave after gathering the necessary supplies.
Rogers told Amandala that the movement seeks to turn around the lives of Belizeans and educate them on how to get the most out of life. Tuesday’s murder, he says, will not change that.
“This is the result of having 55% of our school-age children out of school; they become killers, targeting you, me, the wider society. I suppose you will be hearing my voice more; the only weapon I have is my voice, and I will use it to lobby the Government and society for change.”
Rogers explained that Commoners frown on bringing guns into the premises, and there was little means of security at the house before Tuesday’s shooting. That, according to Rogers, will now change, but the rules at the House of Commoners – acceptance of everyone despite their circumstances – will not.
Norman’s mother, Yvonne Gillett, remembers her second son as a warm, friendly joker who loved to ride his motorcycle through his Majestic home to get a playful rise out of her. She denied reports surfacing elsewhere in the media that her son was involved in unlawful activities.
“I could understand if Norman had a gun, because at least he would have died trying to defend himself. But they never gave him a chance. They came, looking for the first person to step out of the house, and Norman was that person,” Mrs. Gillett said, adding that she would leave all justice and vengeance to God.
A funeral service is tentatively scheduled for Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s Anglican Parish Church on Angel Lane, next to St. Mary’s primary school, which Norman attended. He is survived by four brothers and four sisters; an elder brother was shot to death in Majestic Alley in 1992, for which the shooter served 7 years and is now reportedly locked up in a mental institution. Rogers has confirmed that Commoners will pay all funeral expenses for Norman’s family.
September is now the second deadliest month for 2009, with 11 murders by Amandala’s count, tied with January and only one behind March (12). The (unofficial) murder count stands at 75 with three months to go in the year, only two behind the count at this time last year (77) and 28 away from the record for any calendar year — 103, set last year.