For just over 3 weeks now, residents of Belize City had been experiencing a welcome break from gun murders. But, that calm was disturbed early this morning with a shooting in the Gungulung area, which resulted in 1 man dead, and another hospitalized from a gunshot injury.
Dangriga residents, Rakeem Cruz and Jordan Lorenzo, were inside a house in an area only connected by London Bridges, when a gunman went to the house, shot and killed him, and then turned the weapon on Cruz.
Our news team has been following the story for most of the day, and Daniel Ortiz reports:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
This house in the CET Site area of Belize City was the scene of an early morning double shooting which left 17 year-old Rakeem Cruz, a resident of Dangriga Town injured, and his companion,
For much of the morning, Lorenzo was treated as a "John Doe", simply because there was no form of identification him.
At around 7 a.m., shortly after the shooting, police and emergency authorities showed up to provide aid, and Cruz was the first victim they extracted from the house. He was then rushed to the KHMH for a gunshot injury to the right shoulder.
After police and scenes of crime technicians gathered what evidence they needed, they removed Lorenzo's body and then transported him to the morgue.
Residents tell us that sometime after 6:30 a.m., they heard a barrage of gunshots coming from the house. Police were called in, and they found Lorenzo's body on this mattress in the living room. Someone shot him multiple times to the body. It is suspected that the killer shot him while he was sleeping. Sources also suggested that the assailant may have used this bloody pillow to cover his face during the ghastly execution.
At some point during the attack, the gunman turned his weapon on Cruz and shot him once.
Shortly after the sound of gunshots, residents reported hearing dogs barking, and it is believed that this was when the assailant fled the house, and the yard.
It is uncertain whether the shooter took to the London bridges and got away that way, or if he fled into the bushes and swamp.
Police say that 17 year-old Rakeem Cruz is in a stable condition at the KHMH.
