_{Photo: Leroy Smith, deceased}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Aug. 6, 2024

A daylight attempted robbery before rush hour on Freetown Road on Tuesday, August 6, resulted in one of the robbers, a Belize City youth, being fatally shot at the scene, and the detention of three other male persons who are believed to have been his accomplices.

Initial reports are indicating that sometime before noon, the deceased, identified as Leroy Smith, 24, a resident of Taylor’s Alley, entered the home of the owner of Casa Churro on Freetown Road along with two of his associates, also from Taylor’s Alley.

The homeowner, however, put up some resistance, and soon after, a scuffle reportedly occurred between the homeowner and an armed Smith for his weapon. During that struggle, the homeowner managed to take away the gun and shot Smith dead inside one of the bedrooms in the home.

After the shooting, the two other robbers fled out of the home and got into a getaway taxi, but were quickly detained on Victoria Street by police, who recovered a few items that had been stolen.

The Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, confirmed to reporters a few hours after the fatal shooting, that the deceased was a primary suspect in the murder of 18-year-old Gerald Tillett in 2021.

In reference to reports that some of Smith’s relatives threatened to retaliate against the homeowner for fatally shooting their loved one, Williams said, “I guess they may want to end up in the same position their loved one is in. They can’t blame the businessman for protecting himself and his family. He has a right to do so.”

One of Smith’s alleged accomplices who has been detained is the son of an infamous street figure from within the area who was violently killed.

“We see that a lot, and it’s a trend. The young ones we are dealing with now are junior to the ones we dealt with 15 or 20 years ago. Certainly, there needs to be more done within the homes. It must start at home. And when the home fails, it resorts to social intervention; and when that fails, then it ends up in the hands of the police,” ComPol Williams said.