Teen Detained After Fatal Bar Shooting That Rocked Belize City

A night meant for business quickly turned into a crime scene in Belize City, and tonight, a family is left shattered. Just moments after Da Buzz Lounge opened its doors on Thursday, gunfire erupted inside the popular Phillip Goldson Highway establishment. A thirty-four-year-old mother of three, Salma Funez, was shot and killed, stunning co-workers and patrons alike. Now, police are piecing together what led to the deadly encounter. Surveillance footage tracks the suspect’s movements before the shooting, and investigators have since detained a sixteen-year-old male in connection with the case. As questions mount, so does the grief, and the urgency for answers. Paul Lopez reports.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

This is the very moment leading up to a sixteen-year-old fatally shooting thirty-four-year-old Salma Funez, a mother of three, inside Da Buzz Lounge on the Phillip Goldson Highway. The establishment had just opened its doors, and things were only beginning to come to life. Funez, an employee, sat near the bar as the night got underway, while her colleague, the bartender, worked behind the counter, getting everything ready for the evening crowd. Just behind her, two other staff members were seated, taking in the early moments of the shift. One of them later spoke with News Five off camera about what unfolded.

 

Voice of: Da Buzz Lounge Employee

“We just mih open so I was taking out my stuff to get ready, fix my hair. Then, one spell my friend told me she saw someone walked in the establishment and went into the bathroom which is strange. But when I looked around I saw no one.”

 

That individual, a sixteen-year-old boy, who walked into the bar at six twenty-eight p.m. wore a mask to conceal his identity. After exiting the restroom, he approached Funez. Surveillance footage shows an interaction between them.

 

Voice of: Da Buzz Lounge Employee

“If they had any argument or something, it probably had to be soft, because I did not hear any argument and I was close. I heard no one talking.”

 

In speaking with News Five, Funez’s brother-in-law, Joshua Trapp, says the assailant approached her and demanded her phone.

 

Joshua Trapp, Relative of Deceased

“The only thing we could understand from eyewitnesses was that the person went directly to her and ask for her phone. So, the question is why, who is he. We cannot answer that question as yet.”

 

Two other employees were grazed in the spray of bullets, including one we spoke with. She received injuries to her head.

 

Voice of: Da Buzz Lounge Employee

“It snapped to my mind when I literally saw blood rushing down from my head and the only thing I could have thought about was my kids and then I ran. I just remember seeing my coworker lying on the ground. I just saw her lying on the ground and my next coworker crying, saying she got shot in the hand.”

 

Funez’s brother-in-law says she wasn’t known to be involved in any activity that would have led to her death.

 

Joshua Trapp

“As far as I know her, I know for the past ten years, she was all about work to home, work to home. I cant say what she does in her off time outside of hanging out with her kids. Her kids were her life.”

 

Police confirmed that the minor has been detained for questioning. We inquired about a possible motive.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“There was some indication that he may have threatened her before, and those messages would have been on the phone. So, it is suspected that he thought that taking away the phone would have allowed him to cover the evidence.”

 

Police detained the suspect on Thursday night.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“Operational efforts were put into place as a part of that investigation and sometime around eleven thirty last night, having reviewed a number of video footage, this male minor was apprehended. I can also confirm that just a short while ago a firearm that was suspected to be used in the incident was also recovered. What I can confirm is that the victim and the accused that are in detention were familiar with one another.”

 

Reporters asked whether the two were living together at any point.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“That is the extend of the information I will provide at this moment. At Monday’s press briefing I will provide further information as it becomes necessary to do so.”

 

According to Trapp, the family is hopeful justice will prevail following the investigation.

 

Joshua Trapp

“My sister-in-law awas a very loving person, hard working and she use to live for her kids. That I can tell anyone.”

 

In the aftermath of the incident, authorities established several vehicular checkpoints and eventually caught the suspect. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

 

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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