Photo: Elmer Francisco, shooting victim

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Wed. Dec. 27, 2023

An employee of Crystal Auto Rental (located at Mile 5 on the Philip Goldson Highway near the Haulover Bridge), was shot while working at the establishment on Sunday, December 24.

Reports are indicating that at around 4:30 p.m. that Sunday, the employee, Elmer Francisco, 53, who is the business’s caretaker, was approached by two persons on a motorcycle who rode onto the compound and began to inquire about a vehicle. Subsequently, one of the persons on the motorcycle pulled out a firearm and proceeded to fire several gunshots, which wounded Francisco. The men then fled the scene in the direction of the Haulover Bridge.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander for the Belize Police Department’s Eastern Division, told local reporters that Francisco was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released.

ACP Romero said police are yet to determine whether the victim was the intended target or whether the men had been seeking to shoot another employee at the establishment.

“Again, the male persons asked for a vehicle, and at some point, that was when he was shot,” he said.

The Belize Police Department issued a wanted poster for the two men for “attempted robbery” in connection with the incident. The poster shows an image of two dark-skinned men fully-clothed entering the establishment, and behind them was a red motorcycle on which they had traveled.