Deadly Shooting in Belize City Leaves One Dead, Toddler Hospitalized

A twenty-eight-year-old man is dead, while a toddler and two other men remain hospitalized, following a shooting incident in Majestic Alley. Gun violence has gripped the Old Capital over the last seven days, leading to multiple deaths and injuries. That violence continued last night when a gunman took aim at a group of people who were socializing in front of an apartment building. There are now renewed calls for the declaration of a state of emergency, in the aftermath of this incident. News Five’s Paul Lopez visited the scene and spoke with residents, including the mother of the two-year-old boy who was also shot. He filed the following report.

 

A two-year-old child remains hospitalized this evening, and a young man is dead after a hail of gunfire shattered the peace. It happened Wednesday night. Twenty-eight-year-old Dane Gillett was hanging out with friends in front of an apartment building when the unimaginable happened, a gunman drove by and opened fire. Gillett, who was standing on the sidewalk, didn’t survive. Two others, twenty-six-year-old Antuan Rivero and twenty-eight-year-old Francis Nolberto, were also hit. And in the middle of it all, a woman sitting outside with her two-year-old nephew watched in horror as the child was struck by a single bullet in the back.  We spoke with the child’s mother off camera.

 

Voice of: Mother of Child

“He is stable right now. He just have do a surgery tomorrow. Nothing really damaged inside of him, its just the bullet that is left inside of him. So, nothing is really damaged inside of him. So he is good.”

 

That woman was also outside the apartment socializing when the shooting occurred.

 

Voice of: Mother of Child

“We mih deh outside, all of us were outside hanging and gunman just come and that is what happened. We always hang out there in front of our house and they came all the way in front of our house and I don’t like that. My baby innocent and that have nothing to do with my baby. That gunman have his days coming.”

 

 

 

When the gunfire erupted, panic set in. Everyone scrambled for safety and most managed to make it inside the apartment. But for Dane Gillett, it was too late. His injuries were so severe that he collapsed right at the doorway, bleeding heavily as his friends tried desperately to help.

 

Voice of: Mother of Child

“He is like a family to us. Oh my gosh.”

 

The door leading into the building is riddled with bullet holes. The interior walls, a family portrait, and a television inside the apartment are also perforated. Another family member we spoke with off camera expressed concern over what unfolded.

 

Voice of: Cousin of Child

“We are very hurt right now to know that a two-year-old baby get caught up in this kind of violence, and to say they are in front of their house, in front of your house they come shoot. What are you supposed to do when gunman come to your house? Where should you run? All I have to say is that I pray for those people, god knows. I don’t wish bad on people. Before I wish bad I pray, because at the end of the day God nuh the sleep.”

 

 

 

Most of the people hanging out that night actually lived there, but not Dane Gillett. Still, he was no stranger to Majestic Alley. Friends say he was like family, always around because of his close ties to the residents. And if the name Dane Gillett rings a bell, that’s because he made headlines before. Back in 2021, he was accused of murdering a fifteen-year-old high school student. He spent three years on remand, but the High Court later acquitted him, citing a lack of evidence.

 

 

 

Voice of: Cousin of Child

“And I feel sorry for the young man that lost his life. He was like a cousin to me. Dane was like a cousin to me and I feel hurt, due to how they kill him. People have all kind of things to say about Dane. But there is good and there is bad, trust me. But unu can’t only remember the bad weh the man do. We remember the good. He was like family to us.”

 

 

Tonight, the family of that little boy is pleading for action. They’re calling on authorities to step up and put an end to the wave of violence that’s gripping the Old Capital.

 

Voice of: Cousin of Child

“People the call pan SOE and maybe the SOE wah mek the crime die down, because this is nonsense and this is not the first time I the hear kids getting hurt in gunfire and with violence. On George Street, they ring off a lot of shots and people get injured. Dah weh kind of thing this? I don’t know what to say. I pray for Belize and all of us and let us try to stand up together and try make this done. Let us call for the SOE and the police need to do their job. The government needs to step on this, because it is nonsense.”

 

 

Police have not indicated whether they have identified a suspect in this latest homicide. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.