A Frightening Home Invasion in Ladyville

Imagine you are just going about your business at home on a normal afternoon when suddenly armed men are at your door. That is exactly what happened to one family in the Belize District on Wednesday. Although it turned out the men were at the wrong house, today the gunmen are still at large, and a mother and children are trying to recover from the shock.  News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

A Ladyville family that has lost a number of relatives to gun violence in the past suffered another traumatic experience on Wednesday afternoon. While no one was murdered, a mother and her children were the victims of a home invasion, all the more brazen since that occurred in close proximity to the police station. Today, the family was too distraught to give an interview, and were visibly shaken up as during the incident, they were held at gunpoint. The village chairman gave us some details of what transpired.

Bernardo Bennett

Bernardo Bennett, Chairman, Ladyville Village Council

“It wasn’t a direct home invasion. Apparently, there were three guys working in the area looking for a specific person. Apparently when they were passing that specific house, they saw someone who looked like the person. One person ran inside the house, two were left outside. And when the person got in and saw it wasn’t the person, they just turned around and left the house. They were armed and were looking for someone to possible cause harm or to maybe even try to kill the person.”

Chairman Bernardo Bennett of the Ladyville Village Council says that recently, there has been an increase in property crimes in the village and they are working with the police to ensure citizen security.

Bernardo Bennett

“It’s very worrisome because it was just a stone’s throw from the Ladyville Formation and not only that, kids were inside the house when this incident happened. Speaking with the head of the police, they have increased, stepped up patrol in the area. I must say that a couple of the community have went ahead and installed cameras in the neighbourhoods and start to look out for suspicious movements, strange people in the area. And I know that the police has linked up with most community groups via WhatsApp so that whatever funny incident or movements or people in the neighbourhood, they would immediately alert the police and response would be timely.”

Duane Moody for News Five.