Police Continue Investigations Into Shooting Death of San Pedro Fugitive

Juan Carlos Martinez

Twenty-five-year-old Juan Carlos Martinez was killed, allegedly at the hands of Police, on the island of Ambergris Caye on Tuesday night. A fugitive from justice since December of 2015, Martinez was considered armed and dangerous, and police say he engaged in a shootout with them before succumbing. But there are other accounts which suggest that he was calling for help and standing down from police before his death. The Department’s Professional Standards Branch has opened an investigation on the order of Police Commissioner Allen Whylie, who gave us an update today.

Allen Whylie

Allen Whylie, Commissioner of Police

“The Professional Standards Branch commander was dispatched out there, as well as the O.C.E.D. North, A.C.P. Phillips, as well as other C.I.B. investigators; they have been working on that case, they have been interviewing the officers involved in those shootings, and we are doing the niormal process in terms of a criminal as well as an internal investigation. It’s an unfortunate incident, but as police officers when we took the Oath of Office and we signed up for this job, we knew that we were putting our lives on the line to safeguard the citizenry, and whilst there have not been many occasions where people have resisted and have shot back at the police, we live in the real world and we need to be prepared for when such situations occurred.”

While not similar, as Martinez was a fugitive rather than in police custody, this is the latest in a series of deaths recorded on Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker in which Police were involved. Commissioner Whylie noted that in each case the circumstances were different and to varying degrees, the officers involved in each case were or are being held accountable.