27-year-old John King was shot to the buttocks last night on Victoria Street in Belize City. It happened at about 9:30 when King and his friend Malcolm Meyers were hanging out on the side of the lane.
Little did they know that just another night on the corner was about to turn violent. It left King in the hospital and Meyers shaken to his very core.
This morning he spoke off-camera to channel 7 and told us about the moment he realized he'd have to run for his life:
Malcolm Meyers - Shooting Victim "Well like I told you I was sitting out here and yeah I saw a vehicle stop, a man jumped out of the vehicle and ran towards me with a gun, and when he ran towards me the man busted a shot at me so I just ran and all I told my friends in the house, guys run, and then i'm running through the alley and he just fired another shot at me and I dropped down there. I dropped right by that foam plate down there.And they guy turned back and ran inside and ran after my friends then he started to fire off in the house and that's how he caught my friend in the back, in the buttocks."
Cherisse Halsall
"What have you learned from this incident?"
Malcolm Meyers
"Don't sit down in the lane at night again."
Cherisse Halsall
"So that's what you were doing you were just chilling out here?"
Malcolm Meyers
"Yes I was on a little FB and thing, mess with a friend and thing."
Cherisse Halsall
"So then you didn't notice when they arrived?"
Malcolm Meyers
"I never really notice, I noticed but I just no the conscious what the happen and when I see the gun then I say what this is what's happening. I even lost my phone when I ran."
But that phone is the least of his worries today. For Meyers and his friends, what's more pressing is whether the shooter will return.
Malcolm Meyers
"After that he just left, you couldn't even tell where he went."
Cherisse Halsall
"What was that like for you to be so in fear of your life?"
Malcolm Meyers
"Well, it's just part of the thing same way Ms. lady, you just have to do the thing the same way, man want to try class you as something so you just have to do what you're doing."
And that's just what John King had been doing. Working on his music and trying to leave the streets and their assumptions of allegiances behind. But while King was staking his future on Music that could all have been taken away last night.
Cherisse Halsall
"How close do you feel Mr. King came to losing his life?"
Malcolm Meyers
"Real close, mien real close and that shouldn't have happened because that man is an artist. Music, music artist you check man just about to bust a thing, he's about to get big and they guys were trying to come and stop his flow you feel me. But Jah works in mysterious ways and that man is gonna get back and bust even bigger, you check."
And this morning Meyers had a message for that shooter.
Malcolm Meyers
"I just want them to see what they did and know what they did. Everything comes with a reaction in life too. Because you live around here, because you live in a certain area people class you as a certain gang but then like how I told the guy, we live around here so we won't back down from anybody the same way too, check."
As we told you John King was admitted to the KHMH where he remains in a stable condition. He is both an artiste and a football player.
Police impounded the suspected getaway van which they had to shoot to get it to stop. The owner of the van is also detained.
