Deadly Ambush in San Pedro: Was It Payback?

Tonight, police are trying to piece together the motive behind a bold and deadly shooting that’s left one man dead and another in the hospital. It happened just a block away from home for twenty-eight-year-old Alfredo Trapp and thirty-eight-year-old Gabriel Villafranco Salazar; two men who, police say, are no strangers to trouble. The pair were ambushed by two gunmen on a motorcycle in what appears to be a targeted attack. Trapp didn’t survive the hail of bullets, while Salazar is now recovering and may hold the key to what really happened. Both men have been linked to past murder investigations on the island, raising the question: was this shooting a message, or a case of past deeds catching up with them? News Five’s Paul Lopez has the story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

A tragic night unfolded in the San Mateo area of Ambergris Caye on Thursday. What started as a peaceful day of lobster fishing ended in gunfire and loss. Around nine p.m., twenty-eight-year-old Alfredo Trapp and thirty-eight-year-old Gabriel Villafranco Salazar were just a block away from home, riding in a black golf cart down an unnamed street. That’s when two men on a motorcycle pulled up and opened fire. The scene was chilling, blood stained the street, a grim reminder of the violence that erupted so suddenly. Trapp didn’t survive the attack. Salazar, though injured, made it out alive. Tonight, the community is left shaken, and police are working to uncover what led to this deadly ambush.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“At approximately nine p.m. on Thursday third July police responded to reports of shot being fired in San Mateo Area of San Pedro. Officers were dispatched to the scene of the incident as well as the San Pedro Poly Clinic. At the San Pedro Polyclinic police encountered two men, Alfredo Trapp and Gabriel Villafranco, both of whom were seen suffering from two gunshots wounds to the upper parts of their bodies. Both men underwent treatment, however Trapp succumbed to the injuries he sustained. Villafranco is listed in stable condition. What police has gathered so far is that both men were on a golfcart in the San Mateo Area when they were accosted by two male persons who fired shots, injuring them.”

 

The black golf cart Alfredo Trapp and Gabriel Salazar were riding in tells a chilling story, bullet holes pierced the windshield, and bloodstains mark the seats. At the scene, police recovered eight spent shells, clear signs of the violence that unfolded. That golf cart is now parked at the San Pedro Police Station, impounded as part of the ongoing investigation. News Five also spoke with the mother of Trapp’s only daughter. She acknowledged his troubled past but shared that he had been working hard to turn his life around.

 

On the Phone: Elizabeth Vasquez, Ex-Partner of Deceased

“When I mih meet Alfredo he was a problem person. He was in and out of jail, in and out of jail and when he meet me, I was different. I am hard working person. He promised he would change his life. He stayed out of trouble for five, six years and we broke up. But he was never in problems. We broke up last year and told him Alfredo don’t forget you need to live for your daughter because then our daughter is an o positive blood just like him and I told him don’t forget the baby will always need your blood. He said yes Bella, I will always live for my daughter. So, all of this just hit like, I don’t know.”

Alfredo Trapp, who was killed, and Gabriel Villafranco Salazar, who survived, both had long histories with the law. Police records show Salazar has been accused of murder at least four times. And Trapp wasn’t far from controversy either; in late 2023, police issued a wanted poster for him in connection with the murder of twenty-three-year-old American nursing student J’Bria Bowens, who was gunned down in front of Jaguars Nightclub.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“While both Villafranco and Trapp are known to the police, no clear motive has been established in this investigation.”

Reporter

“From what the police knows so far, were these persons the targets of the shooters?”

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“It would want to appear so on the facts we have so far.”

 

Reporter

“There are a number of rivalries out there. Do you know any motives?”

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“No motive has been established so far, but I know that for the past few weeks there has been intensive operations in that area that has led to the recovery of weapons and drugs and police continue to monitor the situation in that area.”

 

There’s been a shake-up in leadership on Ambergris Caye, with a new officer now in charge of the San Pedro Police formation. But with that change comes a big question: were criminals quick to take advantage of the transition? It’s a theory that’s gaining traction, especially in the wake of Thursday night’s deadly shooting.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“We know criminals will strike at any given time. They don’t need a change of command to take actions they believe meet any needs they have. But what I can say is that the operations that have been conducted by the new officer in command have yielded a great deal of success and we expect that to continue.”

 

Gabriel Villafranco was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where he is listed in stable condition. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.