Marquin Drury Killed in Drive-by Shooting
Marquin Drury
There was another deadly shooting in Belize City last night and police are preparing for what they believe will be a series of retaliatory attacks. It’s the latest in an ongoing flare up of gang warfare that continues to go unchecked. Around eight-thirty on Wednesday night, officers were called out to the scene of a homicide on Santa Barbara Street. The victim was a familiar face due to his involvement in gang activity. News Five’s Isani Cayetano visited the location and spoke with the investigating officers. Here’s that report.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Marquin Drury was shot and killed on Wednesday night in what was another gangland execution in Belize City. The twenty-nine-year-old Santa Barbara Street resident was no stranger to the law. His brush with local authorities, as far as our records show, dates back to March 2014. Last night, sometime shortly before nine o’clock, someone made good on an attempt to have him silenced.
Alejandro Cowo
Supt. Alejandro Cowo, O.C., C.I.B., Eastern Division
“Police were called to Santa Barbara street whereupon arrival a male person was seen being transported. Upon police arrival at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital the person was identified as that of Marquin Drury. Just about a minute later on, he was pronounced dead by the doctor at the hospital.”
According to relatives who spoke with News Five off-record, as many as four shots were fired from a vehicle that arrived on the scene where Drury and another individual were standing across from his house. He wouldn’t stand a chance against his attackers. Superintendent Alejandro Cowo corroborated that account.
Supt. Alejandro Cowo
“What we know is that Mr. Drury was along with other friends on the street side on Santa Barbara Street when a vehicle approached them and apparently someone from inside the vehicle fired shots at their direction causing the fatal injuries to Mr. Drury.”
A motive for Drury’s murder is yet to be ascertained. The incident, nonetheless, is described as gang-related.
Supt. Alejandro Cowo
“Yes, we suspect [that] it is gang-related. The other persons that were along with him, police are still looking for them and asking for their assistance to please assist the police in this investigation.”
In the wake of the deadly shooting, the second armed attack on Santa Barbara Street within a week, police are anticipating reprisals.
Supt. Alejandro Cowo
“We know that there is still an ongoing dispute among different elements within the city and as someone has an opportunity to strike, most of the time that is what happens. I know that from last night police presence have tightened in that area. We know who are the two groups that are involved and police are already there from last night and also this morning there are other foot patrols and vehicle patrols in that area where we suspect that something might flare up.”
In October 2019, Marquin Drury was one of three persons who came under gunfire while standing on Santa Barbara Street. During that incident Drury was able to escape unscathed when a vehicle also pulled up and its occupants unleashed a hail of bullets in their direction. Unfortunately, his friend Jamal Elijo lost his life in similar fashion. That incident came five years after Drury was involved in a wild mid-afternoon shooting involving GSU officers on Mahogany Street in March 2014. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
