Belmopan Shooting: Innocent Man Killed in Case of Mistaken Identity

Last night, only hours after a daylight murder in the old capital, a man was slain in Belmopan City, and police say he was not the target. At around eight thirty, 30-year-old, Brodam Santos, and two other men were socializing at a house on Lime Street when gunmen on a motorcycle approached them. The bike passenger opened fire on the group with a shotgun, fatally wounding Santos and damaging two nearby vehicles. Santos was hit in the back, fell onto the pavement, and was transferred to the Western Regional Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, says investigators believe that Santos was not the intended the target. 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “The investigation so far revealed that the male individual, the victim, was socializing along with two other persons on the back of his vehicle in front of his home when two gunmen came on a motorcycle and one of them fired shots at him with a shotgun causing the fatal injuries. Police are still in that area canvassing to see what information can be obtained with a view to ascertain a motive in respect to this homicide. I can say that the victim is not someone who is known to police. He is a law abiding citizen but one of the male persons he was socializing with is well known to police and is known within the Belmopan and Roaring Creek as one of those troublemakers and so we believe that other person may have been the intended target and not the person who was actually killed. He has been interviewed by the police and no useful information has been obtained from him and we do expect that he would not provide anything useful to the police investigation. Nonetheless, we are going to see what can be done to obtain information to be able to further the investigation.”

Police are yet to ascertain a motive, but say that on Saturday, the brother of the man believed to be the intended target was busted with a gun and claimed his life was in danger. 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “Police did intercept, I think, the brother of the same individual with a prohibited firearm, a forty caliber pistol and he was arrested and charged for keeping a prohibited firearm and ammunition. In interviews conducted with him he had stated to the police that he had the firearm because he knew that he is being sought by others to be killed and that’s the reason why he had it. So perhaps, yes, there could be some link to that person who was caught with the firearm and the incident last night.”

A construction worker was injured on the job in Belize City this morning. The man was reportedly working when he had an incident at a structure, which belongs to the Raddison Fort George Hotel. The details surrounding the incident are unknown, but we understand that he sustained injuries to his body. He was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for medical treatment. The work mishap has once again brought into the context the importance of the Occupational Safety and Health Bill (OSH Bill). Our newsroom reached out to the contractor for information, but they refused to comment. We also made several attempts to reach the Minister of Labor Osar Requena but our efforts were fruitless.