U.S. Tourist Shot Dead in San Pedro; Police Say Victim Was Caught in the Middle of Gang Warfare
J’Bria Michelle Bowens
n Friday night, just as downtown San Pedro was coming alive with activities, a succession of gunshots broke the festive spirit. Within minutes, a celebration was turned into a crime scene. An American nursing student, twenty-three-year-old J’Bria Michelle Bowens from Indianapolis, Indiana, who was on vacation and celebrating her dad’s birthday with her family, was shot dead. The bullets came from a gunman who emerged from the direction of Central Park, firing towards a man standing in front of Jaguars Night Club across the street. Bowens and her family were sitting on a golf cart in front of the establishment when the fatal shots struck her. She died within minutes. Before that incident, San Pedro had only recorded one other murder for 2022, one that occurred on the morning of November nineteenth and claimed the life of a nightclub proprietor. Now as San Pedro reels from this latest incident, it leaves some of the residents calling for more police security by authorities. New Five’s Marion Ali has the details in the following report.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“On New Year’s Eve, sometime around nine-thirty p.m. thereabouts, police responded to a report of shots fired in the area of Jaguar night club. When they arrived there, the victim, a female tourist was observed with a gunshot injury. She was transported to the San Pedro Polyclinic, where upon arrival, she was pronounced dead.”
Marion Ali, Reporting
The ensuing wave of chaos that enveloped the street as people dashed for safety during the shooting spree, spread way past the Catholic Church further up the street. Pastor at the church, Father Eduardo Montemayor was closing the church at the time and offered his help.
Fr. Eduardo Montemayor
Father Eduardo Montemayor
“I heard a lot of them, I don’t know – twenty. I think they found something like twenty-two, twenty-three shells. Immediately then I went to the door. This door was locked, so I went to this other side door and I started seeing people screaming and running north. Some of them were running into the church to seek shelter in the church. After I called nine, one, one I went over there and I found a poor woman just laying in front of Jaguar’s Rehab Lounge, that had been shot multiple times. Her family was around her like in shock, literally in shock. I immediately gave her the anointing of the sick, I forgave her sins, and I just entrusted her to God’s mercy. Afterwards I took her pulse. She had no pulse at that time.”
The killing is the type of crime that doesn’t happen too often in San Pedro, but when it does, it can cripple the country’s image internationally, particularly when it happens during the height of the tourism season – a tourist caught in the warfare of two rivaling gangs. The incident prompted the Belize Police Department, coupled with the ministries of Home Affairs, Tourism and the Area Representative for Belize Rural South, Minister Andre Perez to meet the following morning to discuss what measures would be implemented to restore peace and a sense of safety in San Pedro. Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, says there’s already been a commitment for enhanced police presence and upgrades.
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“I have received the assurances of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet that the police department will receive the necessary resources, especially in San Pedro, with the warring factions there. We will receive from the B.T.B. assistance with two police booths. We have also received assurances from Minister Mahler that we will be equipped with two vessels for the police department to be able to respond to crimes happening on the water in San Pedro.”
The incident has left the islanders we spoke with, with concerns about the gravity of such a crime in their community.
Celsia Benguche
Celsia Benguche, Food vendor, San Pedro
“Even the locals get scared to come out, right, and especially in the night now. Sometimes they will say oh, they won’t come to the park because like the other stalls, they come and work at night. They sell their burgers, their tacos, their burritos, so I think it’s affecting them more because they work in the night.”
Marfa Sosa
Marfa Sosa, Hair braider, San Pedro
“For the community on the island, it’s a bad review because it’s a tourist place and cause we survive off tourists. The island survives off tourists and for something like that to happen, it’s very unfortunate for all of us. As we as locals, tourists as well, I think we should implement more security.”
Lilian McCuluch
Lilian McCuluch, San Pedro Resident
“I just left maybe twenty minutes before it happened, and I’m glad that I did because I wasn’t there and thank God I didn’t get hurt. But it does affect us, you know, a lot for the tourists for them to come and do something like that around in crowd where there’s a lot of people and kids. it didn’t make any sense.”
Mimi Matsumoto
Mimi Matsumoto, Tourist
“The news is surprising, sad. We come here a lot, we love Belize. I’ve gotten to know it very well. We love Placencia and Ambergris Caye so we go to both places, and it is sad, and hearing things like that, I think it can cut down. Tourists come here more because they hear about what goes on in Mexico and so they want to feel safe. It’s a wonderful country, we love it here, but that is really sad and somewhat kinda shocking. You know, we don’t want that kinda crime to be here.”
Those concerns have not fallen on deaf ears. Minister of Blue Economy, Andre Perez, who is the Area Representative for Belize Rural South, spoke with the family of the fallen tourist.
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“We will not countenance this, we will not tolerate these things. As such, we from the leadership, as the elected representative, along with the council, the mayor, we remain committed to support the relevant departments. Tourists come here with their families and they certainly would like to go to a child-friendly place that is safe. That’s important and by setting up that park there, we must ensure along with everyone around there, including the Catholic church which has been voicing their concerns. So we’re listening to work with everyone. What we want to be is fair and equitable that everyone has a say in this but the most important thing is that the Central Park area needs to be secure and I’m committed to that.”
Residents of the island town turned out the following evening to hold a vigil in memory of the fallen tourist. Marion Ali for News Five.
In the wake of the fatal shooting, Prime Minister John Briceño issued a release stating that the government has directed that Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams leads the hunt for those responsible for the killing. The release notes that while the act itself was senseless, it is a remote, random incident. The PM asked the San Pedro community to continue to stand with the police in cracking down on any and all types of crime on the island. The U.S. Embassy, in its release, joined everyone in offering condolences to the victim’s family and that they stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance to them. The embassy said that they are closely monitoring the local authority’s investigation.
