Lionel Rhamdas Killed During Shootout in Ladyville

Lionel Rhamdas

In the past two months, four persons have been killed in Ladyville, Belize District in gun violence that is attributed to ongoing gang rivalry.  On Saturday night, Lionel Rhamdas was shot and killed, but it is not known where the gunshot came from. First, Rhamdas reportedly opened fire on a group of men socializing on Marage Road. Second, there was a return of gunshots, but it has not been ascertained from where the bullets were unleashed. Now, police are looking for Ladyville residents, twenty-eight year old Egbert Baldwin and nineteen year old Darwin Estuardo Prado. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

Was it friendly fire or self-defense when twenty-one year old Lionel Rhamdas was shot and killed on Marage Road in the wee hours of Saturday morning? That’s what investigators are trying to ascertain following a shootout in an area considered a hotspot in the Ladyville jurisdiction. Police say an armed Rhamdas and with two other gunmen, twenty-eight-year-old Egbert Baldwin and nineteen-year-old Darwin Estuardo Prado, ambushed a group of men socializing outside this house on Marage Road. A barrage of bullets was fired in their direction and at least one of the men fired back.  But even before the shooting ceased, Rhamdas laid dead on the pavement with a gun in his hand.

Edward Broaster

ACP Edward Broaster, Regional Commander, Rural Eastern Division

“This scene depicts where the icons in red represent the gunmen. Two came from behind the premises, one came from the front and ambushed the gentlemen who were at the picnic table socializing after which they ran on Marage Road. We are investigating this shooting from two angles. We believe that the gunmen after firing shots on the premises chased Lozano and Terrence Flowers and we believe that someone from the premises may have fired the fatal shot that fatally wounded Lionel Rhamdas in defense of the two other fleeing victims. As well as it could have been friendly fire from the gunmen who were doing the shooting.”

The group of men scattered; twenty-two-year-old Terence Flowers Junior and twenty-three-year-old Casey Lozano ran for their lives and into a police patrol five hundred yards away from where the shooting occurred. Gunmen Estuardo and Baldwin were in hot pursuit before making an about turn to flee from the officers into bushes.

ACP Edward Broaster

“Early on Saturday morning at about twelve-thirty a.m. whilst our police were patrolling on Marage Road, they heard what appeared to be gunshots and saw several individuals running. They immediately pursued some individuals that were firing shots who then ran into the premises of Miss Cynthia Lozano. They encountered a male person on Marage Road who appeared to be deceased with a firearm beside him. If you notice from the slide that we have there, our police mobile at the exact time of the shooting was only five hundred and sixty feet away from the actual scene. And this is giving you the picture of how it actually looked in the night. The area is very dark, very woody, has a lot of foliage, a lot of jungle on both sides.”

Inside the home at the time of the shooting were Lozano’s mother, father, and his four siblings including two children, one eight and the other ten s old.  Luckily, none of them were injured, but he was shot to right hand while Flowers Junior was shot to the right hand, chest and neck and forty-four-year-old Lyndon Gillett was shot to the right hand.

ACP Edward Broaster

“On the scene, we recovered twenty expended shells and two live rounds along with the firearm; I mentioned early, an ARCUS brand with serial number 26KR500660 along with one magazine with nine live rounds. And that firearm was cocked already as though it was being fired. The firearm has been processed and sent to the firearm experts for analysis. We believe that there was another firearm that was used in this shooting for which we believe the two suspects, who may have been armed as well with their own firearm, may have picked up a firearm that may have been dropped by one of the persons in the premises.”

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Edward Broaster, the shootout is in retaliation of the March eighteenth murder of Rene Jaime Chavarria, aka “Fat Cat”.

Rene "Fat Cat" Chavarria

ACP Edward Broaster

“We have had covert and overt operations in the area to try and mitigate this very problem that we encountered on Saturday morning.  This is an extension of the shooting death of Mister Rene Chavarria and we are putting everything possible in place to try and stave off the retaliation. The investigation that we have been working on ever since the shooting death of Rene Chavarria, the players involved in this case believe that someone from Miss Lozano premises was involved in the shooting of Rene Chavarria.”

But this is the third murder since that of Chavarria. Police say that the gangs refuse to make a truce so interdiction efforts will continue.

ACP Edward Broaster

“These are the areas of concern for us that we have to cover on a daily basis as we have three different groups that are trying to target each other. Our precinct attempted a mediation some weeks ago, which did not go well, was not fruitful at all. As a matter of fact the individuals involved do not want to have any conversation with each other so we have to do put utmost best to try and interdict any firearm or like I said, we are putting in place covert and overt operations.”

Duane Moody for News Five.