A meat pie vendor is in critical but stable condition after he was shot in the face in a daring robbery attempt this morning in Belize City. 52-year-old Honduran National Efrain Erazo Perdomo is critical but recovering in the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital after the mid-morning robbery attempt. 7NEWS was first on the scene and_ Keith Swift_ has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting, [keithkswift@gmail.com]
This morning Olive's Kitchen at the corner of Dolphin and Boccotora Streets became a crime scene, the chalkboard with the lunch menu converted into a placeholder for the police tape. And it's through these doors that meat pie retailer Efrain Erazo Perdomo stumbled with blood streaming from his face.
These shots from inside the kitchen where the desperate, dying man sought refuge shows blood everywhere: on the floor, in buckets, and on the walls. This trail of blood which leads to behind the counter and into the cooking area. It was there that he found Ernestine Stevens, an employee at Olive's Kitchen who was preparing food.
Ernestine Stephens, Witness
"All I know is that I saw the man run come in, I didn't see who shot him because I was at the back, all I heard were two gunshots and I saw the man run come in. The man ran all the way to the back and he said something about 'policia' so I guessed he was trying to call the police or whatever. But we were so much in shock that we didn't know what to do and the man left from the back and came to the front and then he again ran to the back. Then we figured the guys left and we came to the front here and we got a white car to take the man to the hospital. But I didn't see who shot him or anything."
Keith Swift,
Where was he bleeding?
Ernestine Stephens,
"Somewhere from by his nose and all the blood was coming from there."
The restaurant's owner is a well known member of the community, Olive Leslie. She too heard the shots while cooking but couldn't have expected what happened next.
Olive Leslie, Witness
"I was in the back cooking and one of the young ladies shouted that there was a shooting and at the same time I heard the gunshots and we just saw this Spanish guy come running in the back and like he was vomiting blood. I came inside and I didn't know what to do, I was so shaken up, and then he went outside and then he rushed back in suddenly so I thought that whoever it was, was coming back. So all I did was...we didn't know what to do, right now I am so shaken up. We just went down behind the counter and it was awful. He was standing up but the amount of blood that was coming from him, it was a lot of blood."
Miss Olive and her staff secured a ride for Perdomo to the hospital where he was treated by a team of surgeons headed by Dr. Jose Moguel.
Dr. Jose Moguel, Head of Surgery at KHMH
"The bullet entered on the right side of the cheek bone and apparently exited on the other side. At this point we have him as critical however upon continuing studies we can downgrade or upgrade that."
Dr. Moguel says Perdomo was than likely shot at point blank range and police say it was in a robbery attempt.
We do know that Efrain Perdomo was on this meat pie and juice cart along with
this man, seen here being taken away by police, when they were accosted by as many as three dark skinned males. Perdomo apparently put up a fight and that is when he was shot. All this happened in front of Olive's Kitchen and that is why he ran in there for help.
Olive Leslie,
"I've never experienced anything like this and I hope it never happens again."
Ernestine Stephens,
"All I was hollering was, 'Oh God,' this is just to show you how close you should stay to God because you don't know the time and the minute when your life will end."
And today as they cleaned up the stains from the ground and off the door from this morning's horror, we do know that life will go on at Olive's Kitchen.
Olive Leslie,
"We're going to close for today because as you know the place is a mess and I feel sorry for the guy and what happened, but hopefully we'll reopen tomorrow. Don't get me wrong, I'm worried about my customers, because they are my customers but I guess they'll understand that we have to close today, and my prayers is with the guy that got shot, that he'll be okay."
Prayers for a robbery victim and a resolution that business and will go on from a community mainstay.
Police say they have one suspect who they are looking for. We note that the robbers left empty handed.
