A young man was shot this afternoon by a police officer but the Police Department says he fired first. He is 19-year-old Curtis Pook and he was shot in his left shoulder after an early afternoon high-speed police pursuit. Police say it was a shootout but witnesses in the Bootsville area of Faber's Road strongly disagree. Here are both sides of the story.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Curtis Pook was pursued by police from Faber's Road through these yards and onto Custard Apple Street. You have to look closely to see it but that's blood on those rocks and it marks the spot where he was shot. These three residents - either heard or saw the incident and all say they heard one shot and it came from the police.
Sheree Herrera, Witness
"I heard bang so I ran outside because I know I saw some children going to school so I thought of one them got knocked down. When I looked out there, I saw a black car which some boys from back here fool with - when they don't have gas, they push it; when they have gas they drive right round and round, up and down this street - when I saw, a man was running behind the boy who was driving, running with his gun like Western."
Desiree Ramirez, Witness
"They hollered, 'freeze' and they hauled out their gun and the little boy stopped because it looked like his pants dropped off of him so the little boy stopped right here. So when the little boy stopped here, he walked into him and he grabbed the little boy, it looked like he beat him down here. I am not sure if he beat him up bad but it looked like they beat him up by there. When he was done, he pulled the little boy into him and went up to him and put his gun and it looked like he wanted to slap him."
Nicolee Ramirez, Witness
"When the little boy went to him, he butt him with the gun and when he went to butt him again, the gun went off and caught him right in here, close to his heart and I said that gun could have caught that little boy in his head and they didn't have to do that."
Desiree Ramirez,
"Children were around and they were doing this kind of thing. My children were going to school and my little girl was crying and didn't want to go to school. They don't have to be doing those simpleness. People were up here telling them to stop because they didn't have to do that because the little boy had already stopped running. He had surrendered already and he still did fool to the little boy."
Keith Swift,
How many shots did you hear?
Desiree Ramirez,
"One shot."
Keith Swift,
Because police say the boy was shooting at them.
Desiree Ramirez,
"The little boys weren't shooting at time. We only heard one shot and it is what he did around here, right down here."
But despite what Sheree, Desiree, and Nicolee say - police say that's not the story. Assistant Commissioner of Police Allan Whylie says shots were fired at his officers. Whylie says that from the moment his officers saw Pook and three other men in this two door Pontiac Grand Am, they knew something was up.
ACP Allan Whylie, Commander - Eastern Division
"They observed a two door black Pontiac car approaching their direction with three male occupants. Nearing the police vehicle the occupants raised the vehicle glass. Aside from the fact that the vehicle was known to the police
from past experiences and that action raised the police's suspicion. The police about turned, placed on their sirens and lights, pursued the vehicle. The vehicle refused to stop, they pursued it across Central American Boulevard, up Faber's Road. Shots were fired from that vehicle in the direction of the police vehicle. Eventually that vehicle turned off Faber's Road, near a cement bungalow, in the area of Bootsville and three male occupants were seen going from the vehicle. Shots were fired in the police's direction. The police pursued and in the process, one of the male persons turned around and the police returned fire and that person was hit in the left shoulder."
Keith Swift,
If the driver didn't have a gun why did the police shoot him?
ACP Allan Whylie,
"As I said, there were three male persons. They exited the vehicle, shots were fired at the police. The police pursued. One male person turned around and in the process he was fired at by the police. The police were taking shots."
Keith Swift,
Did he have a gun in his hand when he turned around?
ACP Allan Whylie,
"The police did not see at that time because of the instant, the quickness with which it occurred."
Keith Swift,
I spoke to three people in that area who say that they only heard one gunshot and it came from the police.
ACP Allan Whylie,
"Well I visited the area. We know the area where they are. The police are faced with difficult tasks and I do not expect a lot of people to cooperate in terms of what may have occurred."
ACP Whylie says police are investigating but instead of being investigated -his officers should be commended for preventing a possible murder.
ACP Allan Whylie,
"The vehicle was known to us. It is from the Back-a-Town area. We are also aware that Back-a-Thon has problems with Gill Street and it is obvious that if the police were not in that area, and we were not taking proactive measures, we may have had some other shooting on the streets of Belize City."
The other two men who were in the car with Pook fled. Police say they found 2 live 9 millimeter rounds of ammunition and 1.3 grams of marijuana in the vehicle. No expended shells have been recovered. Pook is under police guard at the KHMH and he will be charged when he is discharged. The officer who shot him is still on active duty.
