Police Clueless in Murders of 2 Teenagers
Reuben Leslie
Two Belize City high school teenagers were murdered last week following separate shooting incidents on Monday and Wednesday nights in the Old Capital. Fifteen year old Tarique Thompson was shot last Monday as he headed home on Lakeview Street. He was hit to the head and died five days later on Saturday at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. But two days after the second form student of Canaan High School was shot, another student was targeted by a gunman in the same vicinity. Sixteen year old Reuben Leslie was also injured to the head and foot as he rode his bicycle at the corner of Magazine Road and Banak Street. Leslie, a Wesley College student, succumbed around midday on Friday and police still have not been able to determine a motive for either shooting incidents that turned fatal. This morning, at a police press briefing held by the Officer in Charge of the Crime Investigation Branch of the Eastern Division, Superintendent Hilberto Romero, the media was told that the cases have been upgraded to murder, but there is no progress in both investigations.
Tarique Thompson
Supt. Hilberto Romero, O.C., CIB, Belize City Police
“We had Tarique Thompson who succumbed to his injuries on the twenty-sixth day of June 2015 and Reuben Leslie also succumbed to his injuries on the twenty-seventh day of June, 2015. These were two shooting incidents. One of them was shot on Magazine Road and the other had been shot on Lakeview Street.”
Reporter
“Sir we are told that it is in the same general vicinity, the same neighborhood. Are police looking into an angle that it may be connected in some fashion?”
Supt. Hilberto Romero
“Yeah, we are looking at several angles for these shootings. From the incident happened, we’ve had our investigators on the ground recording statements, following up on these two reports. So far we have not charged anyone but we have several angles that we are following up on.”
Hilberto Romero
Reporter
“Sir we are told that these two young men were students and that on all outward appearances are that they didn’t have any gang relations.”
Supt. Hilberto Romero
“Yeah, we have no background on them any at all. Yes they were students and we don’t have them in our system any at all. So we are still working to try to solve these murders.”
Duane Moody
“Sir so no real progress on these murders?”
Supt. Hilberto Romero
“We have not made much progress. Again we are asking the public’s assistance. If they have information, they can call 922-TIPS or come in and give us the information. We are still working on these cases but we have not charged anyone.”
Duane Moody
“Sir what is the police doing in the reference to what seems to be an increase in criminal activity in the city?”
Supt. Hilberto Romero
“Again, our patrols are out there, but like I mentioned in a previous interview regarding this very same shooting, these persons came out of some yard and targeted these persons who were in those areas at the time.”
