A Father Visiting His Children is Gunned Down on Father’s Day
There was a murder in Belize City on Sunday and tonight police in the Old Capital are bracing for reprisal, as the shooting victim is the son of a well-known street figure. Shortly before three o’clock on Father’s Day, Benjamin Hyde Sr. was making his rounds visiting his daughter’s when his life was callously taken by a gunman who emerged from a nearby property, while Hyde was riding a bicycle near King Street and East Canal. Police are exploring the likelihood that the shooting death of Hyde may be related to an ongoing feud between gangs in that neighborhood. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
A deadly shooting on Father’s Day bookended a spate of violence that has claimed the lives of three men in separate incidents. On Sunday afternoon, Benjamin Hyde Sr. was shot and killed as he rode his bicycle towards his daughter’s home. He was blindsided by a gunman who fired at him multiple times.
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Director, BPD
“Police responded to a scene at the corner of King Street and East Canal where they saw forty-nine-year-old Hyde suffering from apparent gunshot wounds all over his body.”
According to Hyde’s nephew, who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity, he had gone to pick up a plate of food from another of his daughters. Upon leaving the area, he was met with a hail of bullets.
Voice of: Nephew of Deceased
“Unfortunately, on his way to the daughter whose birthday is this weekend, he was chanced out of it, because there is no better way to put, you know what I mean. So, hence it is a bit difficult to find the words to put it together so as to describe what went on yesterday.”
Isani Cayetano
“How did you guys become aware of the incident? You got a call, someone came by the house and said, “Look, Mr. Hyde got shot?”
Nephew of Deceased
“We learnt of it through the social media, that’s how we learnt of it. And then we later got a call that led us to the crime scene. Unfortunately, when we got there, he was still there lying there. So that’s how he was identified by us.”
It’s a tragic end for a man who, by his family’s account, troubled no one. Assistant Superintendent Fitzroy Yearwood shares preliminary details of this latest case.
Fitzroy Yearwood
“The initial investigation revealed that sometime around 2:58 p.m., he was riding his bicycle on King Street, heading towards Albert Street when a lone gunman suddenly came out of a yard and fired several shots at him, making good his target.”
Notwithstanding his son’s infamy, the police department is doing what it can to solve this homicide and prevent retribution.
Fitzroy Yearwood
“We are looking at several angles, but definitely that is the first angle that we are examining, knowing that his son is rival with the other gang that belongs to that area where he was shot. I mean, we have to pay that special attention because this, of course, could become very volatile and we have prepared ourselves for any type of retaliation that they might try to come with and we are going hard after both gangs that are involved in that dispute.”
Hyde’s family, on the other hand, gives its assurance that his death will not be avenged.
Nephew of Deceased
“The social media, in particular, combined with the media houses, the different media houses, have already thrown it out there that there will be some kind of retaliatory behavior. We’re not that kind of people, we’re not that type. So we are in no way aspiring retaliation.”
Isani Cayetano For News Five
