Drive-by Shooting Ends in Murder of a 17-Year Old Athlete
Michael Henry
A seventeen-year-old Belize City resident succumbed to gunshot injuries this morning following a shooting on Sunday evening. Michael Henry was travelling in a vehicle along with four other persons when another vehicle drove up and a barrage of bullets was unleashed on them. Henry and another passenger were injured. While Rudolph Gladden survived the attack and has since been released from the hospital, Henry died. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Michael Henry and Rudolph Gladden were travelling in the backseat along with another person while Akeem Baptist and another were seated up front; Akeem was behind the steering wheel of a Ford Fusion car. They were returning into the city after going swimming up the George Price Highway when a black SUV that was travelling behind them opened fire. Multiple gunshots caught seventeen-year-old Henry, while two bullets made their mark on Gladden.
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Director, Belize Police Department
“Upon reaching a point on the George Price Highway near the Puma roundabout and a lone gunman opened fire in their direction, causing his fatal injury and also injuring thirty-two-year-old Rudolph Gladden who was also a passenger in that vehicle. Michael Henry was rushed to the K.H.M.H. where he was listed in a critical condition. Gladden has since been treated and released and sometime this morning after six, I received information that Michael Henry had succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by a medical officer.”
The family of Henry was too distraught to give a comment at this time, but in our archives, we found that the teenager was active in sports, playing basketball and football. We are told that he was not caught up in the criminal justice system and was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Fitzroy Yearwood
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood
“Based on what investigators have shared with me so far, because there were more than one person in that vehcile at that time, to determine whether he was the intended target would be difficult for us. And in all fairness to him, based on what I know of him, I am still disturbed by the news. If you knew this youth, knew of his balling capabilities, it would be devastating to you knowing that something like this could knock on a door so close to you. So we have extended our investigation to view all different angles. We believe that by the end of this investigation, hopefully we can unravel the mystery surrounding the death of yet another youth. We don’t know how much of this the ge4neral public can take where our youths, especially promising youths are just losing their life senseless.”
Inside the vehicle at the time, were two Baptist brothers; we spoke with their mother this afternoon who says that the killing of Henry was uncalled for.
Denise Flowers, Mother of Baptist Brothers
“Di young man weh dehn kill dah wah very nice young man weh noh even fool with nobody. And that dah the thing weh di hurt me; he noh fool with people, he dah gyallis. Dah lone gial, gial, gial dehn bwai talk bout. Dehn bwai noh got time fi think about hold no gun and kill nobody. All weh we want noh dah justice. We want justice fi he mein cause that lee bwai dah love. That lee bwai deh round we from ih five, six years old and right now I feel it and right noh I di mourn.”
Denise Flowers says that they are grieving the death of Henry and want justice.
Denise Flowers
Denise Flowers
“Weh di bwai dehn noh put down the gun. This noh di make no sense fi di kill and kill and kill people. People get tired and enough. If yo notice for the past two months, yon oh see nothing di happen back ah Martins. Everybody deh ina dehn own corner, everybody dah bout peace and love and then the trouble just come to us. I lose a son two years ago, going for two years and up to now, I still grieve inside. Up to now I still get no justice from the police, from no one about my son weh dehn kill. And me lef it like that because ina this world yah; there is a God and God noh di sleep. Everything you do wah come back and haunt u; dah just wah matter of time.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
