And while that tragedy was accidental, the family of 29-year-old Adrian Pook is also in the throes of grief, but in their case, their loved one was murdered.
Pook was at his family yard on Sunday when the gunman jumped his fence. He chased the suspect away, believing that he would not return. However, the gunman came back and this time, he fired a single shot over the fence that proved fatal for Pook.
But in this case, the perpetrator couldn't get away, since Pook's family managed to wrestle his gun away and subdue him.
But while that was happening, Pook was bleeding out, and his family had no idea.
Today, his father spoke with us and told us how he went from staring into a gun to mourning the loss of his youngest son. Courtney Menzies has this story.
A single gunshot from inside the Pook family's yard has altered their life forever after it took the life of their 29-year-old son and brother.
Adrian Pook was on the street adjacent to his family residence when he heard his mother yelling that a gunman was in the yard. He didn't even make it over the fence to help his father fend off the suspect when the bullet found his abdomen.
But at that time, Pook's father and brothers were so preoccupied with disarming the gunman, that they didn't even notice Pook bleeding out just on the other side of the fence.
Today, his father, former cop Regino Pook, detailed how he was able to subdue his son's killer before he could hurt anyone else.
Regino Pook, Father of Deceased
"I was there stringing my whacker, I took off the whole head, knock out the things inside, and as I look to string again, my wife said, see the man come back in the yard and he has a gun in his hand. I let go my whacker, because I spin, when I spin, I was looking straight into the barrel of a gun."
"The young man was jumpy, then when I look, I saw my son's head peeping over. The young man did so, bow. At this time, I don't know where my next son came from and he jumped him and he grabbed him and he held him with his gun in his hand, and he held him. But where he is now, the gun is still on me, I can't make a move, I said, oh my god, what will I do now? And then I saw my son spin him to the fence where the gun got out of my…"
Jules Vasquez:
"Line of sight."
Regino Pook, Father of Deceased
"So I run, I don't know where I got the health and the strength from but I reached there in a split couple seconds. I grabbed the gun by the barrel, I have training, and I shoved my finger behind the trigger, so if you will pull, you're jammed there. You can't do anything more. We struggled, he refused to, when I realize, he has a knife in his hand too. Now where I had him, I can't afford for him to go so because he could cut me and I would have to release him. We struggled for a couple minutes, but the struggle is coming this way, because he's strong."
"So my mind said, since you are so strong, let me use my old tactics so I took the gun and spun him, and I shoved it here for him, and I moved my hand from the trigger and I told him, shoot now, shoot. Because it was touching him. He said, no more bullets are in the gun."
"Where I have, my tactics, spin his hand, bore yourself up now. He refused to let go of the knife, he refused. I let him go, grabbed him again, and the struggle continued and my other son because he has the opportunity now to, and he grabbed him, and my other son let go, he's stronger."
"We overpowered him, I had to knock him in his head a couple times to weaken him so we could have spun him over and put his hand behind his back, right."
"Neighbors, friends, after that gunshot, neighbors, friends were coming. The amount of people coming in my yard, let's kill him, no, I don't need that in here."
And his refusal to harm the gunman anymore than necessary came before the realization that his son had been injured.
Regino Pook, Father of Deceased
"My daughter ran outside, the youngest one, where's Adrian? When she got outside, she bawled, mommy, daddy, Adrian got shot! We can't let him go, he will go, we don't know him, my son is out yonder."
Jules Vasquez:
"At this point you don't know the condition of your son whose been shot."
Regino Pook, Father of Deceased
"I didn't even know my son got shot. My children them, when they leave, it's work, they're working. As they finish work, they come home to rest, they're tired. My children have gone through a thing already, they were blamed foolishly, they won their case. Dad, we aren't going back, we won't do anything wrong in life, from time, we don't do anything wrong in life. Their gang is to go work and make money."
But according to the police, their investigation so far is telling them that Pook may have been the intended target - and that once his killer is out of the hospital, he will be arrested.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC, Eastern Division
"This person is at the KHMH as he received injuries as he was detained by the family and will be charged for murder as son as he's released form the KHMH."
Courtney Menzies:
"Do police know if he was specifically targeting Mr Pook?"
Regino Pook, Father of Deceased
"That is the information we got, yes, that he went there to target Mr Pook."
Pook was working nights at the Port of Belize, and also took up odd jobs around the neighborhood. He was also working on developing his land. He leaves behind one stepdaughter.
Pook was a member of the Leadership Intervention Unit. The suspect, 18 year old Kriston Francis remains hospitalized.
