So while that is the update on the city, what are police going to do about Corozal's narcos? As we have been reporting, there have been 1 murder and at least 4 home shootings with military grade assault riffles in the District since June.
And last night - there was another shooting. This time the target was Nimrod Tillett. He's one of the most notorious figures in all the north. The Orange Walk resident has been charged for murder three times - most recently in September of 2022 when he was accused of killing Bernard Timmons - but the case was thrown out. So, he's been accused three times, and got off three times.
But, last night he couldn't escape a shooter - which an AK-47 who let off a reported 18 shots at him. But somehow Tillett survived - and is in critical condition tonight. The Commissioner told us more about last night's shooting in Corozal:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Last night I think sometime after 7pm, police were called to an area of Corozal, in the outskirt of Corozal where information was received of shots fired. Upon arrival they met Nimrod Tillett with apparent gunshot injuries. He was taken to the Corozal Polyclinic where he was treated and later transported to the Northern Regional Hospital where he is currently admitted in na critical condition. Investigation reveal so far that Tillett had just arrived at the residence of his girlfriend on a motorcycle and as he was about to walk in the yard a lone gunman came and fired multiple shots at him causing his injuries."
"At this time, we are not able to ascertain exactly who the gunman is. We are not sure of Tillett knew the gunman and we are hoping that we would be able to make a recovery and may be able to giv the investigators some leads in terms of that particular matter. But like you rightly said Tillett has been charged 3 times for murder and has beaten all 3 of those occasions. The latest murder being of Timmons who was killed during carnival day in Orange Walk last year and he recently got off that murder."
"We know that he also moved from Orange Walk to Corozal, because he's originally from Orange Walk Town and he moved to Corozal because he was getting threats that he was going to be killed. So we don't know if it is because of what he had been accused of in the past that led to his incident last night, but investigators are following that incident."
Jules Vasquez
"Sir, is it true that you all recovered 18 - 7.67 rounds from the scene?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We did recover 7.62 expended shells from the scene. The quantity I'm not going to say, but we did recover some."
Jules Vasquez
"But then again its consistent with the pattern of violence that we've been seeing where somebody has an AR15."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We don't think it's only one AR15. We believe there are other persons who have AR15 in the area. These guns are easily accessible in the north due to the Corozal border and the fact that the cartels operate within the Chetumal area and have some influence with some people in the Corozal District. So, it is something we're looking at. We had found one of those weapons about 3 weeks ago. We have also found a grenade in the Corozal District about 2 weeks ago."
"From our intelligence, again, I will just share as minimal as I can. The recent shooting, we are seeing in Corozal has nothing to do with the cartels, but rather an internal or a local issue between rivalling groups in the Corozal District."
Jules Vasquez
"While the Commissioner said its not narco-based, these are weapons, maybe it's the proximity of the border, but these are weapons consistent with narcos. Are you concerned that you're losing a hold on the security of the country, because Belize City is overheating and Corozal now is simultaneously overheating and citizens security, regardless of what the statistics say, I know where they are, but citizen security, the sense of citizen security is now very threatened in Corozal as well for example. Your response to that, sir?"
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"It is extremely important that our administration takes any threat, similar to the one that is now taking place in Corozal. We take those threats very seriously, hence the reason we have been proactive as a cabinet in securing the resources, the money and the funds necessary to procure the resources that will be needed for the joint operations, not only between the police and the BDF, but also including the coast guard in our northern operations and so, we have increased our presence at those border points, at those legal and illegal border points and you can expect that once we have secured the resources that we will be putting everything in place - all mechanisms in place to continue to ensure that the citizens in the north are safe and secured."
Our reports say Tillett is at the KHMH, not the Northern Regional. Also of note is that while he was being transported in an ambulance from Corozal to Orange Walk last night, sources claim that a black pickup truck with A Belize City license plate attempted to intercept the ambulance.
