Tourism Police Officer Killed at Caracol

Danny Conorquie

A nineteen year old Tourism Police Officer has been gunned down near the Mayan site of Caracol, located in the Cayo District. Danny Conorquie was assigned to the San Ignacio Station, but was on rotational duties in Caracol along with one other officer. The incident is already sending shockwaves through the community, since it is alleged that Conorquie was murdered by purported Guatemalan encroachers in the area. It happened just after midday, when B.D.F. got a radio call for assistance from the officers who had come under fire near Caracol. By the time they responded half an hour later, Conorquie was dead. Details are still emerging as Scenes of Crime and CIB personnel process the scene. Mike Rudon has been following the tragic and senseless death of the young officer and has the story.

Mike Rudon, Reporting

At news time tonight, family members of nineteen year old Tourism Police Officer Danny Conorquie are in San Ignacio awaiting his body. The young man was shot near Caracol, located two and a half hours out of San Ignacio Town. Following an exchange of communication with soldiers on site, Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Shepherd the incident.

Raymond Shepherd

Lt. Col. Raymond Shepherd, Chief of Staff, Belize Defence Force

“I can confirm that around twelve ten pm earlier this afternoon we received a message via radio of an engagement between the tourism police and some men of Hispanic descent in the Hispanic area. What happened initially as I understood it is that the Tourism Police radioed into the forestry outpost in Tapir, and their request was that they had captured five horses and the men were firing at them, and they were requesting backup. We had a patrol in the immediate area, and that patrol reached the area at about twelve fifty-one and upon reaching there they were informed of the exchange of fire and they swept the area and found the lifeless body of one of the Tourism Police. He received three gunshot wounds to the left side of his face. The other Tourism Policeman informed our patrol that the men removed the shotgun from the Police and made good their escape in a westerly direction towards Guatemala.”

There are only two tourism Police Officers stationed at Caracol on a permanent basis, and they are assisted by regular B.D.F. presence. The jungle surrounding the Mayan Site is a hotspot for Guatemalan illegals who use the land to farm and harvest crops and xate. There have been altercations in the area before, but in this case it turned deadly, and the B.D.F. arrived too late to intervene.

Lt. Col. Raymond Shepherd

“We do routine patrols in the area and each and every day when there are tourists in that location the B.D.F. escorts them to and from the Caracol monument. We also do patrols from our Tapir Base at least once a week, and we have routine patrols that go in once a week from other locations. So in any one week we would have two patrols in the area, in addition to the escort we provide on a daily basis.”

Because of the nature of the incident and the context of the Belize/Guatemala dispute, the murder will be addressed on an official and diplomatic level.

Lt. Col. Raymond Shepherd

“Our normal procedure is to pass on information through our Ministry to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they would do what is called a protest notice, and they would have the O.A.S. come in and do verification.”

The B.D.F. continues to sweep the immediate area in the search for the men who gunned down Tourism Police Office Danny Conorquie. Mike Rudon for News Five.

A release from Police Press Officer Raphael Martinez late this evening states that Conorquie approached two Hispanic men on horseback, and they opened fire on him before fleeing the scene. According to Martinez, the entire incident was witnessed by tourists and tour operators, who were removed from the scene by the Belize Tourism Board. The release assures the general public that additional security personnel have been deployed to the site.