One person lost his life following a vehicular crash on Tuesday afternoon. The victim has been identified as twenty-nine-year-old Marcelino Pop, a delivery man from Belmopan.
According to police, at around 12:30 p.m., officers responded to a traffic accident on St. Mathews Street in the Maya Mopan Area of Belmopan City. They arrived to find a silver Nissan Rogue and a blue Meilun 100cc motorcycle, both damaged.
Investigations revealed that twenty-one-year-old Calvin Martinez was driving the Nissan Rogue on Saint Matthew’s Street. As Martinez approached the corner of St. Jude Street, the motorcycle traveling collided with the left front side of the Nissan Rogue.
The collision caused Pop to be thrown off his motorcycle into the truck’s windshield and then onto the ground. Pop sustained serious head and body injuries and was rushed to the Western Regional Hospital. Unfortunately, he passed away while receiving treatment.
Belmopan resident, Ronald Gibson died today after he was shot by a businesswoman who claims that he tried to rob her. Gilda Abadi told police that Gibson tried to attack her and her daughter in Belmopan. Abadi pulled out her licensed firearm and shot Gibson in the stomach. It’s an incident that Commissioner Williams says appears to be self-defense. But Gibson’s sister, Shawn Gardiner, who spoke to her brother before he died, vehemently disagrees with Abadi’s account of what transpired.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“From all indications, the investigation is showing that the lady acted in defense of herself and her child. It happened that the person died a couple days after, so what we’ll do is what we normally would do, is to put together the file and we send it to the D.P.P.”
Reporter
“Now, you know, we always speak about the justified use of lethal force, and one of the issues is always proportionality. Clearly, the woman felt she was under grave mortal threat. Understandably, it’s she and her daughter, but are you concerned that perhaps it will not meet that threshold of proportionality to use lethal force against someone who is holding you up to rob you?”
Chester Williams
“I do not think so. The woman and her child were together. The man accosted them to rob them. She ordered him to stop. He continued to make moves towards her. Generally, a man is stronger than a woman. She was armed with a weapon. Imagine him approaching her and would have been able to hold on to her, get a hold of her firearm. He certainly would have overpowered her, would have taken away that gun and maybe would have killed her. I don’t foresee an instance where her actions would not be deemed justified, but I’m not going to be the arbiter of that issue. It is going to be left for the DPP. But for my legal standpoint, I do not see how that could happen. I believe she acted in self-defense.
Shawn Gardiner
Shawn Gardiner, Sister of Ronald Gibson
“She’s claiming that she didn’t have a bullet in her gun, so my question is how comes my brother got shot if she didn’t have a bullet in a gun. And from what my brother told me, he was walking on the side of the walkway and it was dark and he didn’t see who shot him. He just felt it, and he wasn’t robbing nobody because he was a distance away from Ms Amadi. So Ms Amadi or Abadi or whatever is her name, has to get her facts right. He wasn’t even close to them and you have to hear about two sides of a story, you know, so I need justice for my brother because this won’t be left like this. I’ll sue her if I have to, or whosoever did it because I met someone in Belmopan personally and he told me that it wasn’t that lady that shot my brother so my question is who shot my brother?”
Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD) is reporting that three Guatemalan men were detained on April 11 in the Chiquibul Forest in Belizean territory. They are Rigoberto Caal (51 years old), Hector Canan Hernandez (48 years old), and Isaias Caal Coc (32 years old). Each individual was found to be in possession of a firearm, including a .22 rifle, a 16 gauge shotgun, and a homemade wooden handgun. Live ammunition was discovered in their possession.
The three individuals were detained and escorted to the San Ignacio Police Station via an extensive route through Rio Blanco, Ceibo Chico, Natural Arch, Tapir Camp, and onwards to San Ignacio, where it is anticipated that charges will be filed by the Police Department, Immigration Department, and the Forest Department.
According to the FCD, it was determined that the individuals were located 400 meters within the boundaries of the Chiquibul National Park. They are from the nearby village of Monte Los Olivos and were en route to a plantation. Given the presence of firearms, it is likely that they were also engaging in hunting activities.
Investigators believe that twenty-nine-year-old Hugh Middleton and eighteen-year-old Marlon Gideon murdered police officer Dylan Anthony on Saturday, March 23rd. Police Commissioner Chester Williams told reporters on Monday that “from our investigation, it tells us that Gideon was the driver of the motorcycle and Milton was the pillion rider and the one who executed the act upon PC Anthony.”
The twenty-nine-year-old Camalote Village resident was on his way home when he was murdered in a case of mistaken identity.
While all accounts are that Esau Castillo and Eduardo Martinez drowned after they went under on Easter Sunday, postmortem examinations will still have to be conducted on the bodies to certify their cause of death. Today, the Regional Commander, Eastern Division, A.C.P. Hilberto Romero, told reporters that the bodies of the two friends are awaiting autopsies now.
“On Sunday, the 31st of March, 2024, around 4:33 p.m., police responded to reports of a drowning at Iguana Creek Bridge in the Cayo District. Upon their arrival, they found – somebody reported that two persons were swimming and they went under and did not resurface. Searches were done, where the lifeless bodies of Eduardo Martinez and Esau Castillo were found. Information is that they were both swimming in the area when they went under, they did not resurface. Both bodies were retrieved and were taken to the morgue and now await a post mortem examination. No injuries were observed on the bodies.”
A family of six from Roaring Creek Village is displaced after their home went up in smoke on Easter Sunday morning. Moises Garbutt, his wife, and their four small children had just left home to go to a neighbour’s house, where he was trying to finish a project. But less than thirty minutes later, the place they called home was on fire. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
A young family and their four little children are depending on you to help them rebuild their home that burnt down on Easter Sunday morning. Moises Garbutt told us he was trying to help a relative fix their home when he found out that his one was ablaze.
Moises Garbutt
Moises Garbutt, Fire Victim
“Everyone was over there assisting with some wooden projects and minutes after, the neighbors shouted that the house was on fire. When I came home, the whole house was total – almost totalled. Everything was almost gone.”
Garbutt says he can only assume what claimed his house.
Moises Garbutt
“I believe it’s due to the heat and some glass object that was nearby. Something like that probably caused the burner.”
Marion Ali
“Have the fire officials been here to investigate?”
Moises Garbutt
“They came and they investigate. They give me – they are not so sure, but they give me a little idea where the fire started more or less.”
Garbutt said he was not able to save anything, and his losses are significant.
Marion Ali
“How much would you say you lost?
Moises Garbutt
“About $15, $16,000 with total everything.”
Marion Ali
“And then now you’ve been displaced, so you, your wife and your kids are staying where?”
Moises Garbutt
“Everyone is staying at my aunt, we’re trying to lean on them. I’m begging for, anyone here to help anyone in the community. I need basically just a material to build another board structure or something. It doesn’t have to be the same, it doesn’t matter if it’s smaller or so, just so I can have a roof or something over my head and my family.”
If you can assist Moises Garbutt and his family to rebuild their home, you can reach him at 638 5739. Marion Ali for News Five.
A State of Emergency is being implemented in southside Belize City and specific sections of the Cayo District. Statutory Instrument 58 of 2024 states “a public emergency has arisen in the part of Belize consisting of the part of Belize City known as the Southside, and which is specified in Schedule I, and in the part of Belize known as Hattieville Area, Roaring Creek Village, Another World Area, Roaring Creek Village, and Young Bank Area, Camalote Village, all in the Cayo District.”
The SOE will remain “in force for a period not exceeding one month; but may be extended from time to time by a resolution passed by the National Assembly for further periods.”
Parts of Belize City and parts of the Cayo District in which a State of Public Emergency Exists:
1. All that area bounded on the South by George Price Highway, North by the Belize River, East by Central American Boulevard and West by Lake Independence Boulevard, including all streets and areas within.
2. All that area bounded on the East by West Collet Canal, West by Central American Boulevard, north by Cemetery Road and south by Race Course Street and North Creek, encompassing all streets within.
3. All that area bounded on the East by Central American Boulevard, North and West by George Price Highway and South by Fabers Road, encompassing all streets within.
4. All that area bounded on the East by Central American Boulevard, on the West by George Price Highway, South by by the Caribbean sea North by Fabers Road, encompassing all streets within.
5. All that area bounded by the North by Belize River, South by Cemetery Road, West by Central American Boulevard and East by Magazine Road, including all streets and area within.
6. All that area of land in Belize City bounded from Corner South Creek and Fairweather Street to corner Fairweather Street and the Caribbean Sea to the corner Kraal Road and the Caribbean Sea to the corner Caesar Ridge Road and Kraal Road up to the corner Caesar Ridge Road and Gill Street and corner Caesar Ridge Road and Central American Boulevard and South Creek, corner Central American Boulevard and South Creek to corner South Creek and Fairweather then corner Fairweather and the Caribbean Sea.
7. All that area of land known as or comprising the entire Hattieville Area, Roaring Creek, Village, Cayo District.
8. All that area of land known as or comprising the entire Another World Area, Roaring Creek Village, Cayo District.
9. All that area of land known as or comprising the entire Young Bank Area Camalote Village, Cayo District
Three persons were shot and killed over the weekend including a reformed Belize City gang member and a police officer. The increase in shootings in Belize City in particular has authorities considering to implement a State of Emergency. We know that several measures have been put in place since the increase of gun violence over the weekend. Aside from the SOE, one of the measures include monitoring key gang figures in southside Belize City. We start of tonight’s newscast with the murder of the police officer from Camalote Village that sent shockwaves through his community and the Belize Police Department. Twenty-nine-year-old Police Constable Dylan Anthony was on his way home when he was ambushed by a gunman on the Roaring Creek Bridge. Described as a humble giant, Anthony comes from a family of police officers. He is known to have been committed to his job and family. So, why would anyone target him? Was it a case of mistaken identity? News Five’s Paul Lopez travelled west today and has the following report:
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Twenty-nine-year-old Police Constable Dylan Anthony was shot and killed on Saturday night in Roaring Creek while heading home. Anthony travelled to Belmopan on his motorcycle to withdraw some cash from an ATM. On his way back to Camalote, at the approach of the Roaring Creek Bridge, a gunman opened fire in his direction. We spoke with his partner, Denise Gonzalez.
Denise Gonzalez
Denise Gonzalez, Common-Law Wife of Deceased
“I called him the morning and he never answer. From morning ih the mess with a bike weh ih jus buy. But i know before the day done ih mih wah call.”
But Gonzalez never received the call that she was expecting from her partner and the father of her five-year-old son. Instead, the call she received was one that no partner wants to hear.
Denise Gonzalez
“When they call me after nine, dah fih tell me that deh done shot up ah, deh done shot up ah. I said no, nuh Dylan. Who would ah want to shoot him up like that? He nuh bother a fly, a soul, he dah one of the sweetest persons I ever know.”
We also heard from PC Anthony’s father, Herbert Anthony, who gave twenty-eight years of his life to the Belize Police Department. In fact, Herbert inspired Anthony and two of his other children to join the force. As a former cop, Herbert was one of his son’s main career advisors.
Herbert Anthony
Herbert Anthony, Father of Deceased
“I give him great encouragement to join. The man does seh, dad I want be just like you. I told him go for it son. He was a very humble guy, cool, nuh interfere with people. When I use to talk foolish things he said dad why nuh stop talk fool. The man seh, dad that nuh wah mek yo big, stop yo fool. The man gone for it and joined the job. The man seh dah I love the job, but the lee transfer, when deh transfer me to Corozal I really wanted to go in the unit weh you deh. I tell ah bway sometimes you have to tek weh yo get because sometimes people bad mind yo eena yo job and send you to places you feel like you can’t handle.”
Credible information to News Five is that Anthony’s murder was a case of mistaken identity. His helmet fully covered his face as he rode his motorcycle. It is believed that his body structure is similar to that of the individual that the gunman intended to target. PC Anthony was a bodybuilder. He spent a great deal of time inside the Camalote Community Centre’s gym alongside his body-building mentor, Dean Lewis.
Dean Lewis
Dean Lewis, Friend of Deceased
“Dylan, I saw him grow up from baby. As he progressed, went to high school and everything, he came out to the community center a lot. I saw that body built for body building so when he got older i spoke to him and said listen up do you want to try work out at the gym an do something. He said no problem let me see what i can do. Automatically he liked it, fell iin love with it and he has been going for a while. Dylan was one of the young men that you could look at him and know that he was going to be a productive young man in the area. It is sad that he is gone, because then who takes up his slack?”
The Belize Police Department issued a press release following Anthony’s murder, noting that he served with honour and distinction in his duties to protect and serve the community. The release further stated that the department is working diligently to investigate this senseless act of violence and bring those responsible to justice.
Dylan Anthony
Denise Gonalez
“Still eena shock, still eena shock. The family, we cant take it, we cant take it. Now my baby leff with no daddy. He and his son mih suh close. Nuh wah day guh by without he call my baby.”
Herbert Anthony
“My son, I am not taking up, everybody knows he nuh interfere with people. He into any sport like barbell lifting. Everybody knows he is not a bad person cuz.”
The Belize Police Department has released official details of the fatal shooting of twenty-nine-year-old Dylan Anthony, a resident of Camalote Village. The murder happened on the Roaring Creek bridge just before nine o’clock last night. Anthony was shot multiple times. Police say that Anthony “was travelling from an east-to-west direction towards Camalote Village when an unknown male assailant opened fire on him near the Roaring Creek Bridge. As a result, Anthony lost control of his motorcycle and fell onto the pavement where he succumbed to his injuries.”
Reports suggest that it is a case of mistaken identity.
One man was injured following a shooting in Roaring Creek Village, Cayo, last night. The victim has been identified as twenty-three-year-old Daniel Lopez. Witnesses say that the shooters fired at a crowd, injuring Lopez in the leg.
Lopez was at a social gathering when two men on a motorcycle opened fire. Police are investigating.
