Security Guard Found Dead in Hotel Bathroom

Earl Alexander Underwood

We don’t normally report on suicide, but today a shooting incident brought to light the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic may be having on persons struggling with mental health issues, even as the Mental Health Awareness Month is taking place. A single gunshot resonated from one of the bathrooms at the Ramada Hotel and Casino in Belize City. Inside, twenty-four-year-old Earl Alexander Underwood was found with a gunshot wound to the head. It happened just before noon today.  Underwood had relayed to his coworkers that he had been evicted from his apartment after failing to meet rent.  He was also worried about the five-thousand-dollar fine that he was facing after he was charged for not wearing a face mask in public. It is also known that Underwood was under a lot of stress before he died so it is believed that he self-inflicted a gunshot to the head. He started working at the hotel a few months ago and has been a security guard for several years. Police say they are investigating the incident.