Deadly Ambush at BWS Warehouse Leaves Family Mourning

A family is in mourning tonight after what should have been a routine shift turned tragically deadly for a Belizean security officer. Thirty-five-year-old Darwin Valerio was on duty early this morning at the Belize Water Services warehouse in Lord’s Bank Village. He was working alongside a colleague who stepped out of the booth to do the usual patrol of the compound, something they do countless times every night. But in that brief moment, a group of men chose to strike, catching Valerio completely off guard. News Five’s Shane Williams takes us through what happened and where the investigation stands tonight.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting…

For Darwin Valerio, it should have been just another quiet night on the job, watching over public property while the rest of Belize slept around one o’clock on Friday morning. He was one of two security officers on duty at the Belize Water Services warehouse in Lord’s Bank Village. His coworker left the security booth, presumably to make his rounds through the compound. That’s when a group of men scaled the supposedly secure fence and caught Valerio off guard, ambushing him while he was reportedly on the phone with a relative.

 

Hayden Brown, Chief Human Resource Officer, Belize Water Services

“These guys have a time lag. They rotate and they go around the compound. They do notify each other. They have the means to notify each other when they’re moving from one point to the next. And so my sense was that one guard had indicated to the other that he was going to do rounds, and I believe that’s when the incident happened. And upon that by the time the response – he had responded the person’s – perpetrators had already left the compound.”

 

…after gunshots shattered the quiet rural community. Police arrived just after 1:30 a.m. to find the thirty-five-year-old security officer lying face down with multiple gunshot wounds. They later encountered Valerio’s coworker, who didn’t make it back in time to confront the attackers. Valerio was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but doctors couldn’t save him. His parents got the heartbreaking call about an hour later, the kind of news no mother or father ever wants to hear.

 

Ismae Valerio, Mother of Deceased

“They just called me and my heart started beating, but I was not expecting that call at that time. I thought it was something else but not going to receive that sad call. His girlfriend called me and told me that he get shot and he died. So I come outside, I call my daughter, and from there I went to my niece house and I told my husband about it also.”

 

Domingo Valerio, Father of Deceased

“What I got from, ’cause I visited the workplace and then what I gathered from the manager was that he was shot by three guys who jumped the fence at the WASA in Lords Bank. We leave it in the police hands and justice supposed to take its course. If it doesn’t, then the good Lord knows.”

 

Now the close-knit family is forced to bond even tighter by grief. For Valerio’s mother, the pain is unimaginable, a son who left home to work and never came back.

 

Ismae Valerio

“My son was a humble, respectable young man. My son is all about love. He love his family. Every day he will call and check up on the family. Especially for me, he will call if, when he leave from work, he will call me Mom I done de da the junction already. I di look for a ride. I gwen home. And I said thank you. Thank you Lord for watching over you while you’re working that you may reach home safely.”

 

His father describes Darwin as a hardworking, respectful young man who cherished his nieces and nephews and took pride in his Garifuna roots.

 

Domingo Valerio

“We are cultural. I am a drummer and I was one of the best in Georgetown, so it’s like an inheritance. All right. Darwin is always encouraged by his mom, speak the language. He sees what I do, so whatever I do is what he do. Our humbleness is right within the family because my mom transferred direct to me and from me to him.”

 

Belize Water Services’ Chief Human Resources Officer, Hayden Brown, says this incident has sent shockwaves throughout the company. Even though Darwin was employed through a private security firm, Brown says they still saw him as part of the BWS family. The company is now working closely with police and has launched a full review of its security measures in the wake of the deadly attack.

 

Hayden Brown

“All of us at Belize Water Services feel empathetically towards the family. It affects all of us as a community, as a people, these things really put the stress on all of us. It’s really sad that a young man life was taken.  And we would hope that, the police and entity in charge do their best to cover, recover for the family that have lost their loved one. The company offer condolences to entire family of the fallen guard and all his immediate relatives who are affected by this death.”

 

Tonight, investigators are relying on company surveillance footage as they try to piece together what happened inside the compound and how the attackers gained access. But for the Valerio family, no investigation or explanation can bring back the man they loved, another security officer killed while simply doing his job.

 

Ismae Valerio

“My son is all about love. My son always told me, ‘mommy I love you.’ Every day he call me; he told me he love me so I will miss my son so dearly but I ask God to give me the strength and courage to hold on and from there he’ll take it off.”

 

Anyone with information is urged to contact the authorities. Shane Williams for News Five.