Cop Caught Firing Gun in Public, Granted Bail

A Belize City police officer is facing serious scrutiny tonight after a video surfaced showing him firing a gun into the air in public. The officer is forty-three-year-old Richard Gillett, a resident of Dean Street and a serving member of the Belize Police Department. The incident reportedly took place on Tuesday night, on Antelope Street Extension, and was captured on video that quickly went viral. Gillett was arraigned today on a single charge of discharging a firearm in public. Initially, the charge was filed under the Firearms Act, which would have meant automatic remand to prison. However, in a twist, the charge was later amended to fall under the Summary Jurisdiction Act, allowing the court to grant bail. Magistrate Ludlow Black approved bail in the sum of one thousand dollars, with one surety of the same amount. Gillett, who appeared in court without legal representation, has since sought the services of well-known attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley. Bradley met with his client shortly after bail was posted and told reporters that he hopes the matter will be handled internally by the police department. He claims Gillett felt threatened during the incident and only fired the weapon into the air, not at anyone. Gillett is due back in court on July twenty-fourth, 2025, as the case continues to unfold. Meanwhile, questions remain about the circumstances leading up to the shooting and whether further disciplinary action will be taken.

 

Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney-at-law

“Not every time a police make a little small mistake dehn fi tek wahn lee mole hill and turn it into a mountain. The officer didn’t point his gun at anybody, nobody was in danger. He had a reason why he did that. You can see from the video [that] somebody was coming out of the little police booth. You could hear the voices that they were being disrespectful and aggressive to the officer. Which crime he committed? A police officer has been issue with a firearm to protect himself and to protect us, it should be an administrative matter. I appreciate that the police have changed the charge sheet to charge him under the Summary Jurisdiction Act which allows the magistrate to have granted bail to him. But di man noh shoot aata nobody, nobody was in danger. He was the one who was being aggressed. He was the one who felt like, you know, so I am hoping that they would withdraw the charge and he goes to a tribunal and the matter is straightened out.”