Ten year old boy among three injured in shooting
A violent weekend on the streets of Belize City shows no signs of letting up as the most recent shooting has put three people in the hospital, including a ten year old boy. News 5’s Janelle Chanona has more.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Just after nine last night neighbours twenty-six year old Sigmund Trapp and nineteen year old Akeem Welch were standing at the corner of Rivero Street and Kraal Road when a lone gunman approached on foot.
Marilyn Welch, Mother of Victims
“When I run out deh, I noh see my son, but the shooter still di shoot. The person inna full black. I run up the street fu see where my son deh. I neva see my son pan the street, but when I reach up the street, he mi di come out the yard and then he tell me, “Ma I get shot.”
According to Marilyn Welch, as she tried to stop the bleeding coming from the left side of her son’s chest, she realised that her ten year old son Ashton had also been caught in the crossfire. The bullet had pierced Ashton’s right leg as he was walking towards his home from the nearby store. Welch says the shooting was the second incident in as many nights.
Marilyn Welch
“I noh know if dah the same person come back, because the person mi come shot the Sunday night. That’s why I mi tell mi son noh stay by the lane you know.”
Akeem and Ashton Welch and Sigmund Trapp were all rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. The ten year old Wesley student and Trapp are listed in stable condition, but Akeem underwent surgery last night to stop internal bleeding and repair the damage to his organs caused by the bullets. Tonight, he is listed in critical condition.
Marilyn Welch
“I noh know, they have to stop the killing and thing because my sons noh do them nothing and dah two ah my sons get shot innocent fu nothing. The police have to find out weh the youths them di do, because inna this thing dah like two set ah bwai come gang together. So the police need to find the two set weh di crowd together. They seh one side dah back yah by we and a next crowd from di boulevard, dah two ah them combine together. They need fu find who dah the shooter. I only see one person, only that I noh see his face.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
According to investigators, a fourteen year old primary school student has been arrested and charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of dangerous harm, three counts of deadly means of harm and one count of aggravated assault. He is also the same person believed to be the shooter in Sunday night’s incident and as a result, has been charged with a second count of aggravated assault for that offence. The weapon used in both attacks has not been recovered.
