Shooting on Pelican Street Mars Soca Moca Mas Camp
A shooting in Belize City on Tuesday evening has raised serious concerns about public safety heading into the carnival weekend. The armed attack on Dixon Ramirez, a short distance away from where Soca Moca was preparing for its mas camp on Pelican Street, canceled an event where participants in the pre-carnival activity were up to be judged by the Carnival Association. The young man, we are told by residents in the area, was shot following a scuffle at a nearby basketball court. In the wake of the shooting, quick response led to police on mobile patrol arresting the culprit, not before coming under gunfire from the fleeing suspect. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
A physical altercation at a basketball court on Pelican Street, reportedly over a pair of slippers, has left a nineteen-year-old suffering from gunshot injuries. Dixon Ramirez, a resident of Pitter Street, and several other young men were fired upon by someone whom they allegedly attacked moments earlier. His mother, Dorla Ramirez, was at home when she was informed of the shooting.
Dorla Ramirez
Dorla Ramirez, Mother of Shooting Victim
“I mi deh right home ya soh di watch TV, I noh even hyah no gunshot none at all and dehn just cohn and tell me, if I hyah that mi son get shot. Ah seh, “What?” Soh I just jump up and I out di TV and I, dehn seh dehn done ker ahn da hospital soh I just end up walk gaan da hospital and thing.”
The shooting took place just as carnival band Soca Moca was preparing for its mas camp event. The incident ultimately disrupted the judging of that activity. Nonetheless, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told the media today that officers were on mobile patrol in the vicinity when they heard what sounded like shots being fired nearby.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“Police were patrolling in the area of [Central American] Boulevard at its corner with Iguana Street Extension when they heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the area of Elston Kerr Street. The officers responded to the area where they saw another police officer and he had given them the description of the suspect who had fired the shots. The team of officers from CIB went in the area where the officer had directed that the suspect had run with the weapon and the police officers encountered the suspect in the area of Seagull Street. The suspect fired shots at the police and the police returned fire. No one was injured in that particular instance during the exchange of gunfire between the police and the suspect.”
That individual was later apprehended and a sweep of the area yielded a firearm believed to have been used in the commission of that crime.
Chester Williams
“The suspect was eventually caught and a search of the area led to the discovery of a nine millimeter pistol with some ammunition in its magazine. Now the area where the shooting occurred, the primary scene which is in the Iguana Street Extension area, there was where the person got shot and that person was shot by the suspect who the police were pursuing. That person, the victim, received gunshot injuries to the leg and groin area.”
By the time she arrived at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, Ramirez’s son had already been taken in for surgery. She told News Five this morning that the operation was successful.
Dorla Ramirez
“When we reach ih mi deh eena di, dehn done ker ahn da di, eena di surgical ward and thing mek ih could get surgery and thing. Then dehn tell we mek wih wait. We wait and wait and dehn tell we bout eleven [o’clock] soh ih mi wah get through with ih surgery and dehn tell we mek we come home, ih noh mek no sense we wait because then… but we still wait fu mek we hyah di verdict after ih get ih surgery and thing. And soh dehn seh everything is… da just dehn shot ahn from ya soh and ih buss through ih bladder and that da weh gaan ahn, di docta explain to we.”
The neighborhood in which the incident took place is a hotspot for gang activity. Ramirez, however, says her son is not involved with any of the groups in that community. A police investigation continues. Isani Cayetano for News Five.
