Edward “Scrubby” Saldano Jr. Shot Dead in Belize City

A young man who had narrowly escaped gunfire just weeks ago was not so fortunate today. Twenty-six-year-old Edward “Scrubby” Saldano Jr. was shot and killed at midday as he rode his bicycle near the intersection of Amara Avenue and Dean Street, the same area where he survived a grazing wound less than a month ago. This time, police say a lone gunman emerged and opened fire, hitting Saldano multiple times before fleeing the scene. Saldano had only been out of jail for a few weeks and was no stranger to law enforcement, having previously faced a slew of charges, including a 2024 robbery investigation. Scrubby’s murder adds another layer to the cycle of violence gripping that neighborhood. News Five’s Britney Gordon has the full story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Just two weeks after walking out of police custody, and less than a month after surviving an attempt on his life, twenty‑six‑year‑old Edward Saldano Jr. is now dead. A lone gunman opened fire on him today, cutting short a life already marked by close calls and leaving his family in grief and his neighborhood shaken.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Police are  investigating a shooting incident which led to the death of twenty-sixth-year-old Edward Saldano of an Amara Avenue, address in Belize City. The investigation comments On Thursday, fifth March at approximately twelve twenty p,m, when officers in the precinct one era were alerted to the songs of shots being fired in the vicinity of Amara Avenue, officers proceeded to that location where they observed several expended shells and some blood on the scene. The investigators proceeded to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where they learn that the victim in that shooting incident was Mr. Saldano”

 

The ground near his home was scattered with spent shells, a sign that Saldano was likely ambushed. It wasn’t his first brush with gunfire. In 2025, police shot him inside the Michael Finnegan Market after they reportedly found a firearm, and he ran as officers approached. His mother, Joyce Williams, later blasted the department for how they handled that incident.

 

Voice of: Joyce Martinez, Mother of Shooting Victim (File: March 4^th, 2025)

“Look like he was at some stall and he see them and run apparently and they shot him. Then they look around to see if he had anything on him and they find a gun. So if you find a gun now dah fuh you? Yo nuh get no justice out yah, nun at all. If you nuh got money, nothing work. I tiyad of the police and deh nonsense. I sick and tyad ah ney.”

 

Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith says investigators already have someone in custody, marking the first major step in the search for Saldano’s killer.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“What the investigation has so far disclosed is that Mr. Saldano was walking on Dean Street when it is that he was accosted by a male person who is believed to have been known by him. A dispute arose and the male person, and this was captured on police camera, was seen retrieving a firearm, which he used to fire several shots which resulted in the demise of Mr. Saldano. One male person has since been detained in the course of this ongoing investigation.”

 

Saldano Jr. was no stranger to police, with past charges for robbery, firing a gun in public, and alleged gang ties. Violence also runs in the family; his father, Edward “Scrubby” Saldano Sr., was shot dead on Wilson Street in 2022. His killing came while his son was on the run after escaping police custody, raising long‑standing questions about whether the two shootings were connected.

 

ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Director, B.P.D. (File: March 3^rd, 2022)

“We would have to establish motive in order for us to say that in a definite form and so far we haven’t established motive, but what we can say is that with that excessive amount of bullets being fired at him, they wanted to make sure that he died. What his son may have done in the streets could be elements, but I still wouldn’t want to lean towards that.”

 

After his father was killed, Saldano Jr. surrendered to police.

 

Edward Saldano Jr., Escapee (File: April 4^th, 2022)

“Dehn just chance my pa, I feel like, because ah weh da me. He da di senior and I live pan George Street deh and dehn accuse me ah George Street and me da gang member and all kinda thing. Soh I feel like dehn chance my pa ‘cause my pa noh give trouble or mess wid nobody and I feel like dehn get to the cause dehn cyant get to me.”

 

Police are yet to confirm whether this murder is linked to gang activity.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“No clear motive has been established as yet. I have not been able to confirm the area that person comes from, but what I can say, he was detained in that general area there.”

 

The motive behind Saldano’s killing is still unclear, but the brazen, broad‑daylight attack has left his neighborhood on edge and his family reliving a tragedy they’ve already faced once before. Britney Gordon for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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