Christmas Eve Shooting Leaves One Dead and Another Injured
One man is dead and another remains hospitalized at the K.H.M.H., following a Christmas Eve shooting in Belize City. Things quickly went downhill when an individual, identified as Shaquille Perrera, arrived at the Ramclam family home on Maskall Street. He was there to see his son and, in the process, asked for the child’s mother. When he was told that she was not there, an exchange of words reportedly ensued between Jevon Ramclam and Perrera. Despite warning them that he would be back, neither Ramclam nor his best friend, Darnell Puerto, took the threat seriously. The pair came under deadly attack moments later. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano with that story.
Voice of: Dawn Ramclam
Voice of: Dawn Ramclam, Mother of Shooting Victim
“It’s rough. I feel like I’m going through it all over again. It’s hard. They hurt our family all over because, as I said, Darnell was like our family also. And my daughter, she is traumatized and it’s hard for my son because he already lost two of his brothers some years back and Darnell filled in that missing piece.”
A deadly attack on a pair of men on Christmas Eve has left two Belize City families shattered. The incident took place here on Maskall Street, an offshoot of Neal Pen Road. Thirty-year-old Darnell Puerto and his friend, Jevon Ramclam, were standing inside a family yard when someone came looking for Ramclam’s cousin. His mother recounts what happened next.
Dawn Ramclam
“I was inside preparing and my son went in and he said “Mom,” that my niece’s baby father came and he said that he brought a gift for his son. And I told him that my niece wasn’t here and he got upset and he said that he told him to watch his mouth, but that was all he went in and said. I didn’t know that this was going to happen.”
Darnell Puerto
What took place shortly thereafter involved a shower of bullets and two persons, including Puerto and Ramclam, being injured in the gunfire.
Hilberto Romero
ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division
“Police responded to a shooting incident at Maskall Street in Belize City. Upon their arrival, information was received that two persons had been shot and taken to the KHMH for treatment. Police visited the KHMH where the two persons were identified as Darnell Puerto and Jevon Ramclam. Information is that both were on Maskall Street when they had a confrontation with a male person who told them something and said he would return. Thereafter, a car pulled up, a male person came out and fired several shots towards their direction.”
The zinc gate behind which the unsuspecting friends stood is perforated after several rounds tore through the thin, corrugated sheet of metal. The concrete wall nearby is also dotted with pockmarks. Ramclam’s mother maintains the pair’s innocence.
Dawn Ramclam
“I don’t think they did anything wrong by just telling him that my niece wasn’t here, because that was what my son said he said, you know, and Darnell didn’t say anything. But at the time he was standing beside my son when the shooter came.”
Shaquille Perrera
Earlier today, a raft of charges, including murder, attempted murder, use of deadly means of harm and grievous harm, was brought against Shaquille Perrera. Dawn Ramclam and her family took Puerto as one of their own. The pair of friends had forged a bond that saw her caring for Darnell as one of her children.
Dawn Ramclam
“Darnell was a nice person, you know. He goes to work and whenever he’s not working he’s always here, almost every day. Not a day really goes by that he doesn’t come and sometimes when his girlfriend goes to work, he would come from the morning until the night when she comes off and then they go home. When he’s here, he’s always mannerly. Everybody gets along with him fine. Everybody counts him as relative. So he was a nice person to all of us and we accepted him and loved him as one of our own.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.
