BELIZE CITY, Thurs. May. 3, 2018– Five persons were shot last night in Belize City, four of them in front of a Chinese store on Fabers Road, and one while driving in a car on Cemetery Road near the Salvation Army building. None of the victims were fatally injured.
Hugh Thomas, 25, a mechanic of Belize City, was in his vehicle when he was shot in the right side of his back at about 7:00 yesterday evening. Thomas was driving on Cemetery Road, towards Albert Street, and when he arrived in front of Trench Alley, also known as Pregnant Alley, an unknown gunman came through the alley and fired several shots at him, one of which struck him.
Thomas was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH), where he was treated and later released.
About an hour after Thomas was shot, Sylvester Bahadur, Emerson Requeña, Michael Requeña, and Tricia Benguche, were shot while they were in front of a Chinese store. Bahadur and the two Requeñas were standing in front of the store, and Tricia Benguche was alighting a vehicle in front of the store, when two men rode up on a bicycle.
The men got off the bicycle and went to the store. Shortly after getting off their bicycle, and less than a minute after they arrived at the store, the men pulled out pistols and fired at the three men, hitting them, and also Benguche.
Benguche, a 34-year-old vendor, suffered gunshot wounds to both hands.
Sylvester Bahadur, a 36-year-old AC technician, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body.
Emerson Requeña, 34, a laborer, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body, and Michael Requeña, a 27-year-old laborer, also suffered multiple wounds to his body.
Benguche was treated at the KHMH, and released, while the other three remain under medical care at the hospital.
During the weekly police press brief held this morning at the Raccoon Street Police Station, ASP Alejandro Cowo, Commander of Crimes Investigation, said that the shootings were the result of ongoing feuds between street gangs.
Cowo said that they are looking for three men of Belize City.