Mennonite woman wounded in Spanish Lookout ambush
The details are sketchy, as the tightly knit community of Spanish Lookout is not known for aggressively telling its stories, but News Five has confirmed that an attack was carried out last night on a Mennonite woman by a gang of armed men. At around eight o’clock Monday night twenty four-year-old Nellie Plett was driving over to her seamstress to get some sewing done. Only about a half mile from her home she saw a group of men dressed in camouflage standing on the side of the road. When one pointed a gun at her she quickly reversed her vehicle in an effort to flee but before she could escape a number of shots rang out. Despite being nicked in the leg, abdomen and neck she managed to drive home and was later taken to La Loma Luz Hospital in San Ignacio. When we contacted police today they would only say that a shooting had taken place and that statements were being taken from a number of persons. Unconfirmed reports to News Five are that large numbers of police and soldiers have been seen in the area today and spent shells from the shooting are being tested for similarities to the May second holdup and murder on the Hummingbird Highway. Estimates of the number of men involved in last night’s shooting range from six to ten. This evening word from Spanish Lookout is that Nellie Plett has been released from the hospital and is on her way home.
In an update to our lead story, a short while ago News Five spoke with Denver Plett, father of the Mennonite girl injured in last night’s shooting. He confirmed that Nellie has been taken home but is unable to walk at this time as fragments from what appears to be some sort of explosive device are lodged in her legs. Denver Plett told News Five that among the expended shells recovered from the scene of the incident are military type ammunition. Plett says that as far as he knows, his family is enemy to no one and believes that the attack against his daughter might be the handiwork of people from outside of Spanish Lookout. When we contacted the San Ignacio police, we were told by the officer on duty that no arrests have yet been made. The officer said that a team of police, Dragon Unit and B.D.F. soldiers will be on patrol in Spanish Lookout tonight.
