Shooting in Twilight of Nomination Day on Police Street
The gun violence was not contained to Pregnant Alley. Two more city residents were injured in a shooting in the Lake Independence area. Emerson Garnett and Houston Apolonio were on Police Street when they came under fire. Apolonio was grazed on the shoulder, but Garnett was hit multiple times and is in critical condition at the K.H.M.H. A B.D.F. soldier, who attempted to break off a confrontation, is said to have fired a shot at the assailant. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
In Lake Independence, sometime after ten o’clock on Wednesday, an evening of socializing among friends and family was also abbreviated by gun violence. Twenty-nine-year-old Emerson Garnett and Houston Apolonio were standing on Police Street when a pair of men opened fire on them. Garnett was hit multiple times, including a gunshot wound to the lower left side of the chest.
Voice of: Eyewitness
“My relatives were hanging out here in front of my dad’s house and obviously they had an argument with somebody, a military personnel, a B.D.F., you know what I’m saying, but it was transpired by somebody else who left. And the guy said he was coming back and that’s exactly what he did. So he came back and he did what he had to do. He shot one of my little brother’s too, but he got grazed in the shoulder. But my auntie’s son he got shot close to the heart and in the stomach. So right now he’s at the ICU, intensive ward, in a critical state and situation.”
According to Belize City police, upon responding to the scene of the attack, they were redirected to the K.H.M.H. where both victims had already been transported.
Alejandro Cowo
ASP Alejandro Cowo, O.C., C.I.B., Belize City
“Police were called to a shooting incident on Police Street and as a result they proceeded to the hospital where they observed two male persons suffering from apparent gunshot wounds to their bodies. The first person police observed was Houston Apolonio. He had a graze at his upper shoulder, right shoulder and he was treated and discharged last night. The other male person that suffered injuries is Mr. Emerson Garnett, he received three gunshots to the body.”
The misunderstanding, as we are being told, was fueled by an excess consumption of alcohol.
Voice of: Eyewitness
“The verbal exchange got escalated. It escalated and one of my brothers got involved, [who] is the B.D.F. and they have him at the camp under lockdown right now and he wasn’t really involved, he was trying to, like, pacify things, trying to make sure everything is alright, you know, because this is our street. This is not the first time that these things happen.”
Isani Cayetano
“To the best of your knowledge, how many shots do you believe were fired here last night?”
Voice of: Eyewitness
“It sounded like a whole clip, as far as I am concerned. But luckily he didn’t get majority of it. He only got two.”
The exchange of gunfire, says ASP Cowo, involved another individual who happened to be in the vicinity of the shooting.
ASP Alejandro Cowo
“There was another civilian in the area who upon seeing what happened took out his firearm and fired a shot at the male person that did the shooting. Police processed that area likewise, and found several expended shells at the scene.”
Isani Cayetano
“We are made to understand that as many as fifteen shots were discharged in that area during that incident last night. Can you confirm based on the number of shells recovered?”
ASP Alejandro Cowo
“Police recovered ten expended shells from that scene.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
Garnett’s family is making a public plea for blood donation at the K.H.M.H.
