Corozal Family on Edge After Home Targeted by Gunman

Tonight, a family in Corozal is reeling after their home was targeted by a gunman in the early hours of Sunday morning. Reports indicate that Viv Bradley, daughter of sixty-nine-year-old Justice of the Peace Anthony Bradley, and her two children were at their family home when they heard several loud bangs nearby. When Anthony Bradley returned home a few hours later, he found broken glass and bullet holes in his office door. This terrifying ordeal has left the family fearing for their safety and wondering why they were targeted. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with more details.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

For the Bradley family, Saturday evenings usually mean cozying up together in the living room to watch TV. But on January fifth, Viv Bradley was feeling tired and decided to head to bed early, with her two young children following suit. Little did she know this decision might have saved their lives. Just a few hours later, gunfire erupted, targeting their living room. Her father, Anthony Bradley, discovered the bullet holes hours later and shares more about this harrowing experience.

 

Anthony Bradley, Homeowner

“On Sunday, I came from my farm, where I reside now with my wife to check on my daughter here that lives at our family home.  And when I opened the gate and I came in, I observed some glass, broken glass on the floor,  and I also observed a hole on the glass door. And so I thought in my mind I said probably somebody threw a stone and as you can see we are close in front of the street. Not far from the street, right? Our house is very close to the street.  And so I thought it was somebody that threw the stone and hit the glass and broke the glass.  So I showed it to my daughter and I said you know, yeah, I noticed this as somebody threw a stone and broke the glass, not thinking that could have been gunshot. But when I walked out to meet her, I saw she was crying. And then I observed, as you can see here, the bullet shots on the front of my house.”

 

Bradley, a local Justice of the Peace, recounts that in the early hours of the morning, between midnight and one a.m., his daughter heard several gunshots. Viv never imagined their family home would be the target of such an attack. Paralyzed by fear, she couldn’t call 911 or alert a neighbor. Anthony Bradley is convinced this was a deliberate act.

 

 

 

Anthony Bradley

“If you look at things, the evidence that is on the wall and my office, the person actually came and shot from the street to my office, shot the glass, then more over on the other side of the corner of the fence and purposely emptied about fourteen rounds against the wall and windows.”

 

The family is now at a loss for what could have prompted the attack and is too terrified to sleep at night. Bradley shared that in his forty-two years of living in the neighborhood, he has never witnessed an attack like this. He has since begun increasing security measures for some peace of mind.

 

Anthony Bradley

“Why would someone somebody want to harm my family and myself? I don’t know, because I don’t owe anybody. I don’t borrow no money from nobody. I’m not involved in any illegal activities. And so I find it very strange that, and frightening because now I have to be taking, putting in place security cameras on my home making sure that my family’s secure, my children’s from out of harm’s way. So I don’t know what is happening in Corozal. Now we have lawless people roaming around shooting your homes.  Never in history have I seen something like this.”

 

Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident and no items were stolen from the property. Still, the family is shaken up.

 

Anthony Bradley

“Thank God that no life was lost, and you give God thanks for that. We’re praying for family and friends who have called in support of us. I am taking precautions. Like I said for my home and her children because this is something that has never happened to me like I said I mean my all my life six-nine years living here in Corozal and look at what I’m facing now look this is out of ordinary.”

 

 

Neighbors reported hearing a motorcycle speeding away around the time of the attack. Authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward and help bring those responsible to justice.

 

Anthony Bradley

“What can we say? We are living in an era now when we have to protect our homes. The whole community, we have new people moving into our communities now. When I was growing, all my neighbors, we knew each other. Now we have strangers living among us. Our community is evolving, it’s changing. And so we need to start to take care of our property and our families. Life has changed and we have to change it. Sometimes we don’t even know who to trust now. Because this is the kind of life that we are living now. We can’t trust nobody.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.