The Hopkins community is still reeling from the events of Sunday morning that left two men dead and eight others injured. And today, the four men the police believe were responsible for the mass shooting were charged and taken before the Dangriga Magistrate's Court.
The men arrived there around 2:30, and about twenty minutes later, they were being carted off to the Belize Central Prison.
Meanwhile, in Belize City, the Commissioner of Police gave an update on where the police's investigation is heading.
Courtney Menzies went south today for the arraignment and has the details.
28-year-old Brian Andrews, 25-year-old Kenyon Moore, 35-year-old Sherwin Moore, and 43-year-old retired Canadian soldier, John Smith, took the perp walk this afternoon to the Dangriga Magistrate's Court where they were each arraigned on two counts of murder.
Andrews, along with Kenyon and Sherwin Moore, are accused of storming into Wabinaha Nightclub in Hopkins Village and letting off a barrage of bullets into the crowd, killing 23-year-old Noah Moro and 56-year-old Emilio Garcia.
And though eight others were also injured during this mass shooting, today, the men were only charged for the two murders. And due to the nature of the crime, no plea was taken and they were remanded to prison.
And while the reports are that it was only three men who stormed into the club, gun blazing, the quick response from the police, who had just arrived on the scene, allowed them to intercept one of the getaway vehicles that was being driven by Smith.
And, according to the Commissioner of Police, Smith was originally charged with abetment to commit murder, but on the advice of the DPP, his charge was upgraded.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We have also received directive from the DPP representative in the south to proceed with murder charges against the four individuals that will also include the Canadian man."
Reporter
"The initial information that the police aired was that he simply served as a getaway driver."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"If it is that you and another person embark to go and commit a crime, we have one common purpose. Even if it is that you remain as a lookout person you can be captured as a part of that enterprise, in order to commit the crime. And so we only need to confirm if in fact he went to the location with these young men, and at that particular time, they went to commit the crime while he awaited them to get them out of the area, that will fall within the scope of participation."
And ComPol Williams also noted that the police have had eyes on the other men before this incident.
Pictures on social media indicate that the four men knew each other well and has some history together.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Yes, they have been under the radar of the police, I'm not going to go into details for what, but they had been under police radar."
"The Canadian had not come under police's radar. Ham..he has been monitored by the police before, but not for that extent. We have heard things in the past and, ahm, police have checked out, but, not, per se, deeply under the radar."
And while the police are confined they have the right suspects, there's still a lot left to investigate - including why these four men would do such a heinous act, and how they managed to terrorize and entire community.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Today we were able to recover the other escaped vehicle that belonged to one of the accused men, it was found on a farm within the Stann Creek District."
"From the expended shells recovered based on the video footage we saw, it is clear that they were 9 millimeter pistols."
Jules Vasquez:
"I'm saying that there's a fair degree of premeditation and orchestration. Are you able to speak to that level of uncommon organization for this kind of crime?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I cannot speak to what may have been in their mind, but certainly it was premeditated because they left the club and then they came back shortly thereafter. It is clear that when they left they went to retrieve their weapons. Perhaps it was somewhere nearby - could have been in their vehicles that was right outside parked, and then just went back into the nightclub and did what was done, soh, yeah."
The men are expected to return to court on November 9th for their disclosure.
And the owner of Wabinaha Nightclub, 69-year-old Bernard Franklin Nunez, was also arrested and charged for the offenses of admitting a person under 18 years old and failing to provide a male and female security guard.
