BELIZE CITY, Thurs. July 22, 2021– This morning a robbery in the Western Paradise community ended fatally when a young man who was reportedly one of three robbers who carried out an armed holdup at Jacky’s Fast Food and Supermarket, was killed by the owner of the establishment.
What we have gathered so far is that two of the robbers were shot while trying to jump over a fence after an attempted robbery this morning around 9:00. One of the two died on the spot as a result of the wounds he received, while the other young man was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) for medical attention.
Reports are that three young men armed with pistols entered the store in the early morning and stole an undisclosed amount of cash from 42-year-old Yanfen Zhang and 39-year-old Cai Yan Li, both naturalized Belizean women originally from China.
The robbers then went to the kitchen of the establishment, where they reportedly saw Chu Rong Zhang, whom they reportedly knocked into an unconscious state before stealing an undisclosed amount of cash from him.
He regained consciousness, however, and went to the back of the establishment, where the robbers were attempting to escape by jumping over the property’s fence.
Zhang opened fire and fatally wounded one of the men, since identified as 19-year-old Ashton Samuels, and grazed 20-year-old Tyler Ramclam on the left calf. The two other man who was reportedly involved in the robbery was able to escape.
Eyewitnesses have said that they heard the gunshots at the back of the store, before seeing a wounded man with blood on his face.
The victim’s mother gave an off-camera interview during which she said that this is the second child she has lost to gun violence. Her first son was killed, and now this child, her last, also died as a result of gunshot wounds
She said that she forgives the store owners and will leave everything in God’s hands.
Police recovered several expended 12-gauge shells, a pair of Nike slippers, a .39 revolver with 6 live rounds, and 2 black pellet guns from the scene of the robbery and shooting.