Jeffrey Roches shot in front of St. John’s Credit Union
jeffrey roches
A Belize City resident was shot multiple times this morning and contrary to reports of his demise, he is recovering from surgery tonight. Thirty-five year old Jeffrey Roches was heading on bicycle to his mother’s house at about seven o’clock this morning when he was targeted by two gunmen, who unleashed a volley of bullets on him. Roches is the third victim of gun violence in his family. One of his brothers, Mark Anthony Saldano was killed in March of 1995 and another brother, Philip Roches was shot and killed this year. News Five’s Isani Cayetano has a report.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
He was rushed to the K.H.M.H. where doctors performed an emergency surgery to save his life. His mother, Norma Coote, was at home when she received word of her son’s shooting.
Norma Coote, Mother of Shooting Victim
norma coote
“All weh dehn call and tell mi dehn just done shoot mi son. I noh know, dehn say front ah Holy, the credit union thing deh. Me neva know nothing. All weh I hear di shooting, the shot but I neva know da he right til dehn call me and tell me dah he dehn just done shot.”
Isani Cayetano
When you got to the hospital what were the doctors telling you?
Norma Coote
“Dehn noh tell me nothing. Dehn mi di tend to he but I gaan eena di X-ray room dehn mih di X-ray ah. All weh he say dah ih hand mi di hurt ah like up yah so fu ih hand mi di hurt ah and ih ga wah shot from up yah come through yah. Ih gah one pahn weh yo call it, ih hip and di docta say ih got one pahn ih buttocks, right. Ih get four shots then but I noh know weh di next, I noh memba weh di next one weh dehn tell mi deh.”
Isani Cayetano
How is he listed at the hospital at the moment?
Norma Coote
“Well dehn call it critical right. Dehn got ah eena di ICU, and say dehn have to watch ah. Ih critical but ih come through di operation aright.’
The attempted murder of the thirty-five year old laborer is eerily reminiscent of the violence that has haunted several families on the south side of the Old Capital. Roches is the third sibling in his family to become a victim of gun violence.
Norma Coote
“Ih neva say mih son neva deh eena ih lee you know, knicks knacks dehn but right now he mih, dah work he mi gwein and he generally come every morning come hail me before he go da work cah when ih come ya ih go so da ih work right. I think when ih get shot da right da me ih mi di come. Ih always pass before ih go da work. I noh know who wah shot ah.”
philip roches
Isani Cayetano
You mentioned earlier that he has lost another brother to gun violence as well. Can you tell us a bit about that incident?
Norma Coote
“Philip Roches dead the twenty-eight of March. He get shot wah Sunday morning. Dehn shot he up eena wah yard right. That da bout it. Up to now dehn noh find who kill he.”
On the morning of Sunday March twenty-eight Philip Roches was cutting a yard on East Canal when a lone gunman approached the residence and opened fire. The elder sibling was struck four times in the head, chest, arm and hand.
Norma Coote, File: March 30th, 2010
“Ih couldn’t mek it because di bullet gone eena ih head, come tru dah front yah so and ih noh come out and ih shatter everything weh ih pass tru yah so right. Ih mi gone chop wah yard, di same bway weh dead weh name Baja, di lady give ah di job fi goh du right, cut di yard fi di wake and dah way een deh dehn come and shot ah dehn say.
Despite losing her eldest and youngest sons to gun violence and almost losing a third this morning Coote says she just wants the senseless violence to end.
Norma Coote
“I noh know why dehn have to be so much murda and ting cah da everyday nearly yoh get wah shooting and I think da time now fu dat stop because mother dih lose dehn son. From di youngest to the oldest di goh.”
Belize City police have detained one suspect in connection with the shooting. Reporting for News Five I am Isani Cayetano.
In the past few days, we have reported on two other families who have been followed by tragedy. Glenford Matura Senior lost his son, Anthony Matura on July fifteenth and just prior to that, on March tenth, the other son Glenford Junior was also murdered. The other family affected by gun violence is the Felix family. Two five brothers, Faron and Tyrone have been murdered and a third brother, Ryan, was shot recently but survived the ordeal.
The expression on this mother’s face says it all. She looks broken. It’s only a matter of time before she buries another son.
Her vague explanation of her son’s previous behavior underscores the violence. After Ryan Felix was shot, one young man commented that it was justified because Ryan was a bully. The same has been said about others.
In Belize, grievances are allowed to fester for years, that has always been our culture, holding malice was common back in the day, the violence is new.
There is no question if they could go back & change the behavior that resulted in the murders & wounding of their sons, Ms. Felix, Ms. Coote & Mr. Matura probably would have intervened when they could still make a difference. Parents have to be more proactive & correct bullish behavior & break the pack mentality..
The schools must have the ability to call parents in or have social work with them when they see overly aggressive behavior. We may not be able to make a difference with the young adult men & the ones in their thirties who got caught up in this craziness, it’s sad to say but we may have to accept that they may never grow old & focus our attention on the next generation. Ms. Coote, good luck to you.
REALLY SAD STORY. MY CONDOLONCES TO MS. COOTE & FAMILY & FRIENDS OF THIS YOUNG MAN. HE DIED DOING SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE, HEADING TO GREET HIS MOM THEN OFF FOR WORK. THESE MEN/MURDERERS (WHO ARE MOSTLY BLACK) IN BELIZE NEED A SERIOUS WAKE-UP CALL!!!!!
AS MS. COOTE SAID,”MOTHERS DIH LOSE DEHN SON. FROM DI YOUNGEST TO THE OLDEST DI GOH.”
THIS IS HAPPENING ALL OVER THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. IN MY LIFETIME I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE KIND OF HATRED I SEE AMONG SOOOO MANY BLACK PEOPLE IN PRESENT DAY SOCIETY. SEEMS AS THOUGH WE HAD MORE LOVE FOR EACH OTHER BACK IN THE DAYS,WHEN WE WERE CONSIDERED NIGGAS BY PEOPLE WHO SOLD & BOUGHT US LIKE WE WERE CATTLE.
NOWADAYS, WE ARE FREE INDEPENDENT, THINKING PEOPLE. WE CAN EDUCATE OURSELVES TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL POSSIBLE, AND MANY OF US DO THAT. YET STILL, WE CALL EACH OTHER NIGGAS & ACT LIKE NIGGAS TOO…..THE MORE FREEDOM WE GET. THE ANGRIER & MORE HATEFUL SOME BECOME…..
I EVEN SEE SOME OF YOU POSTING COMMENTS SUGGESTING THAT WITH ENGLAND’S INVOLVMENT, WE CAN BRING BACK MORE CONTROL OF “THE MURDER SPREE” THAT IS TAKING PLACE IN BELIZE.
AS FAR AS WE HAVE COME, WE ARE STILL INSECURE & THE HATE CONTINUES TO SPREAD….GO FIGURE
Laaad, FUSS TING DA MAUNING. WAKE-UP BELIZE…. OPEN YOU EYE!!!! Who will put a stop to this???? WHERE IS THE PUP???? SOMEBODY please………… THE CHURCH/CHRISTIANS CAN DO SOMETHING!!!
this is crazy….so much violence….
This is sad I hope he recovers quickly for his mom sake…..these moms are the ones suffering
Pastors and Ministers, please start having intercessory prayer for Belize. Satan has an assignment over the country. Start binding the evil and loosing the power of God and pray the blood of Jesus over the country to cleanse the country of the evil that has been unleashed upon it.
and it continues ……… wen this ting wa stop we black people soon be extinct o a rare bread in Belize damn our poor black male communities r killing eat other some try but then there is the a… hole who wa just bring u down like a bird trying to fly off. we need to unit and stop this non sence. How u wa tek weh a mans life wen u yourself cant give life come my people seek God and be good to one and other lets go ahead and strive build the land and lets us be proud to be call belizean
It’s going to stop when Mr Barrow step to the plate and start hanging the criminals,until then let’s hope the best.
That sound stupid where is the PUP any party inna goverment do the same thing that why the country is going backward and not forward may if the public would stop being quiet and the goverment start makeing example of these guy thing might get betta. howm many people get shot and nobody see come on belize small and everbody the mind one another business so no tell me nobody see when wah lot of these shooting happen. same way we belizean gossip dah the same way we need to talk bout who we see .
I though seven oclock in the morning was to be breakfast time hmm, but fi dem bway da shooting time hmm. you know what we need to start to give them a breakfast of bullets too.
To you al, yes the christian church do have intercessory prayers, its just that people look the other way around, you believe me the churches are doing their part, but the citizens of this country need to do their part too.
They just keep on dropping like flies…….and no one seems to know what to do to solve all this…..The only way you will ever see anything going to get done is when you hear a minister or their family gets shot or killed and then you will see what happens…….
UDP, PUP….seems as though none of these political parties can quell this out of control violence. I’m saddened everyday I read the online Belize news, but like an addict, I keep coming back, hoping to read that these Belize boys, with credible assistance, have begun to kick this genocidal habit. If I recall studies have already been done regarding this violence problem in Belize. Why isn’t someone or a coalition of organizations not implementing the findings?
PUP will come out right before election’s time
Where is the “PUP”?, you forget that all a dis start with these corrupted ministers, PUP sell everything they could get their hands on. Sell rockville, sell pound yard, a mean you name it, them midi sell it. Start with that.