Armed Hold-up Ends in Deadly Shooting of Suspect

An intruder was shot and killed during a brazen armed robbery at around eleven-thirty this morning in Belize City. The incident happened near the Cinderella Plaza at the Cambranes Building, which houses several businesses on the lower flat. The holdup did not go according to plan for the three men, who, we understand, got away with some keys, but in the process, one of them was shot dead. News Five’s Marion Ali was at the scene and filed this report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

It was not business as usual today for Casa Churro at the Cambranes Building on Freetown Road. Sometime around eleven-thirty this morning, a small car pulled up and three men stepped out. One of them, armed with a gun, accosted the proprietor outside of the bakery. The gunman shoved the businessman in the door and that was what caught the attention of someone we spoke with at the scene.

 

Voice of: Eyewitness

“I mi di sit and dem just come here and dehm shub ah pahn the burglar bar and one gone with him and dehn put up the shutters and then they put him in [the door] and then some noise mi happen then the next one mi gone eena the vehicle and he get some things and just run weh. And his lee son mi come and tell me fi call police then da right deh we call the police and da right deh dem mi come.”

 

Marion Ali

“So they got away with anything as far as –“

 

Voice of: Eyewitness

“I nuh really sure if they got away with something, but I think dehn get his key or something because dem mi gone eena the vehicle and I heard he never find out his key again.”

 

Quick police response led to the apprehension of the two accomplices and the driver, in the car they used to carry out the crime. Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams told reporters this evening what the police found when they arrived at the scene.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“Police responded to the area where, upon arrival, they met a male person who had complained to them, and they also saw the lifeless body of a male person in a yard with what appeared to be gunshot wounds. Police also responded to the immediate area where they also intercepted a taxi and inside the taxi contained two individuals plus the driver. Those two individuals in the vehicle were identified as Maleek Chavez and Leroy Garoy. The person who was found at the scene has been identified as one Leroy Smith.”

 

 

ComPol Williams provided additional details, including the fact that investigators are treating the incident as an aggravated burglary.

 

Chester Williams

“Information suggests that the three persons, um, had gone to rob this place and in the process the person who occupies that premises, relieved the gunman of his weapon and fatally shot him. After that occurred, the next individual jumped into a taxi and made good their escape. But thankfully, the quick response of the police, they were able to be detained, not too far away. And, a search of them revealed the discovery of a cell phone and a bangles, which are items that are stolen during the – well, the call was about a robbery in progress, but actually it’s a aggravated burglary report. And the two individuals are in custody along with the taxi man, and police are conducting interviews. We believe that they’re going to be charged.”

 

The incident happened just before the lunch hour, when traffic at the intersection gets even busier. It took the coordinated efforts of several police officers at the location to divert traffic away from the scene, while keep the traffic free flowing. Marion Ali For News Five.