Police: Adrian Pook was the Intended Target of Shooting, Despite Other Reports
Adrian Pook
A man was shot dead near his house by a gunman who hid under the victim’s back step. While there are reports that the deceased was not the intended target, police are saying that in fact, he was. Sometime before eight-thirty on Sunday morning, twenty-nine-year-old Adrian Pook was reportedly walking on an unnamed street near his yard on Ordonez Street when he was shot dead. Police were able to identify the suspect because right after the shooting, Pook’s family restrained him, and in that process, he suffered a stab wound. News Five’s Marion Ali has the story.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Twenty-nine-year-old Adrian Pook, a resident of Ordonez Street in Lake Independence, is dead after he suffered a gunshot wound on Sunday morning. Pook was walking on an unnamed street behind his family home when someone who was lurking under his step fired at him.
Hilberto Romero
A.C.P. Hilberto Romero, Commander, Eastern Division, Belize Police Department
“Information gathered from the scene is that Pook was at his residence when a male person came and fired a single shot at him, causing the fatal injury. The families who were at the yard at the time, uh, subdued the person and took away the 9mm pistol, which was handed over to police. This person is, uh, the KHMH, as he received injuries when he was detained by the family, and will be charged for murder as soon as he’s released from the K.H.M.H.”
The person detained, eighteen-year-old Criston Francis, is a resident of Aloe Vera Street. Police say he was hiding underneath the step at the Pook’s residence. Francis is currently listed in a stable condition at the K.H.M.H, while police continue to investigate. Today, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams told reporters that Pook was a part of the Leadership Intervention Unit. He lamented that it will take some time before the program can have a higher success rate in curbing violent street crimes.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“Certainly, yes, he was a member of the L.I.U and as the L.I.U family we’re trying to do what we can to ensure that there’s no retaliation. But again, as I’ve said before, we are not naive to believe that this program is the answer to everything and because we now have the program, everything will come to a stop. It took us many years to get where we are and it is going to take us many years to be where we want to be and we continue to work in that direction. The L.I.U is not going to stop crime overnight. Crime will happen, but certainly, through the efforts of L.I.U., Belize City residents can tell you that they have seen a drastic reduction in shootings in the city; a drastic reduction in robberies.”
In 2019, Pook along with his brother Ryan and Michael walked out of the Belize Central Prison as free men. They were accused of the 2011 murder of taxi man Errol Ferguson. Marion Ali for News Five.
