Gunman killed by cop in holdup attempt

It was the kind of holdup that could have ended in massive bloodshed. Instead the drama that unfolded Friday night in Roaring Creek ended shortly after it began, leaving only one man–a prospective robber–dead. At 9:15 p.m. a crowded bus was headed to Benque Viejo, having started its run an hour or so earlier at the Novelos Terminal in Belize City. When it passed through Roaring Creek, after a brief stop in Belmopan, a passenger left his seat and signaled the driver to stop near the cemetery. When the man got off, two armed masked accomplices immediately climbed aboard. Details are sketchy, but at this point, it is believed the bus driver knocked one of the gunmen in his arm and a struggle ensued. Shots rang out and in the ensuing pandemonium a police officer, who happened to be a passenger on the bus, took out his service revolver and returned fire. When it was all over one of the three robbers lay fatally wounded, while his two colleagues had disappeared into the night. The dead man has been identified as Elston Galvez, who formerly served as both a police constable as well as a BDF soldier. Authorities have been tight lipped about the incident, refusing to release the name of the policeman or bus driver, ostensibly out of concern for their personal security. Police investigations are focusing on the identity of the two men, one of whom is believed to have boarded the bus in Belmopan.