There were three cruise ships visiting Belize today - and - at the start of the tourist season - downtown had quite a number of tourist filtering through.
And, right there - at around 10:00 am - in the very heart of downtown, a succession of gunshots shattered the peace of the morning air. It came from police, a crowd of them trying to deter a dangerous, mentally ill man who was walking the streets with a butcher knife.
But, as many as a dozen officers were unable to deter him in a standoff that lasted more than a minute. And, when Francis Ramos finally charged at a police officer with his knife, it was too late.
Cherisse Halsall tells us what happened next:...
The was the shocking scene that went viral across Belize today - a cluster of cops hovering over Francis Ramos, firing warning shots, as he charged towards an officer with a knife.
Warning shots turned into a kill shot - and Ramos lay dead on the sidewalk of the Swing Bridge, the butcher knife he brandished in front of him.
An unbelievable flash of violence on the country's most iconic bridge. The city's main artery had become a crime scene and police were there to investigate one of their own who had shot him.
Alex Babb - the owner of Bucket Bar on the river's edge - was sitting at this table looking over the river and having a snack when his breakfast was interrupted by the sound of gunshots.
Jules Vasquez:
"You Were sitting down here."
Alexander Babb, Witness
"And I started to hear gun shots.So, when we look so now, we saw the gentleman that they just shot surrounded by police officers. They were telling him to put the knife down and he did not that happened for about 5 minutes then the victim decided to attack the police officer with a knife, they were shooting at him earlier but they were shooting in his. Feet so that he would put down his knife. When he attacked the police officer, the officer was shooting him down, but at the end of the day this man was gonna stab the police and that was when he took the fatal shot. He heard the first shot and then they were chasing him and he stopped on the bridge because they surrounded him."
Jules Vasquez:
"So now he agressed towards the police and the police had no choice, really?"
Alexander Babb, Witness
"No choice. He has been in many confrontations out here with people."
Jules Vasquez:
"He's mental."
Alexander Babb, Witness
"Yes mentally ill, but you know they don't have no place for those guys in Belize so they are at the mercy of the world. I knew they would have killed him, I knew they were going to kill him because when the police officer was saying put down the knife I know he was not gonna put down the knife, I know that because he's mental."
And this was far from Ramos's first run in with the police back in 2013 he was sentenced to 7 years in prison after he plead guilty to the attempted murder of Micheal Young, a boyfriend of a relative.
And last year he had to be subdued by police with a shot to the foot after he chopped a man to the head and attempted to attack a responding officer with a machete.
It meant that this morning's confrontation was with a man who had a history of violence.
But that justification doesn't make his death, a broad daylight shooting in the middle of the city, any easier for those who loved and cared for him. People like his friend and one time classmate Anita Nemhard.
Anita Nembhard, Friend of the deceased
"I honestly think that we need to understand how to deal with these kinds of people and I don't think there is something in place that allows them to. Know that they can go to a safe zone so they remain on the street and that is where he has been."
"I was in court and I heard something happened at the bridge - not knowing. It's hard because I saw Francis, I think it was Monday of this week and there was an incident where I was standing right under this verandah. I heard a van just stop suddenly and then I saw Francis just came in front of the van, you know, in his behavior because he's not, he's mentally and then he just screamed out and I tried to go towards him and he just went his direction so I didn't even get to say anything to him. I just knew that that was him and the state that he was in last year, we took him out for his birthday so isn't this is very emotional just to see my friend lying down there…..that he died like that."
"I believe that they. Should have but it's like I said I don't know if they're trained yet or still don't understand how to deal with these kinds of people, and. I see them a lot, we see them a lot in our city and in downtown, the busiest part that anything can happen with then. I've seen a lot of stuff so I know that it's time for us to do better, we have to do better because even if he had that knife or whatever, up. They could have dealt with it different than to shoot him and kill him like that."
And indeed tonight many are wondering just that about a police department that isn't equipped technically or tactically to deal with cases of dangerous mentally ill persons
