Last night at 11:35 residents of the Belama Phase 1 and the Coral Grove area heard a spray of gunfire - the kind that would be emitted from a machine gun. Many thought there had been some wild shooting spree in those residential areas. But it turns out the shooting was across the river in the Lake Independence area which has recently been beset by violence.
But this was no casual shooting: it was a well-coordinated, massive attack upon a plywood home with two adults and three children inside. How they survived after the home was sprayed with gunfire may be a minor miracle - but it's fortunate that they did because despite their weaponry and stealth movements, the shooters seemed to have targeted the wrong home.
We found out more when we visited the remote area today:
Jules Vasquez Reporting
This is the home in the Dungulung area that was sprayed with bullets last night. The residence sits directly alongside the Belize River at the northern edge of Lake Independence.
The area has no streets - you must access it by paths and makeshift bridges that cut through the bush, it is nestled in the remains of a mangrove forest, there is no light and at night it is pitched in darkness.
Neighbors say the only light last night was the muzzle flash from two weapons firing indiscriminately at this house. Look up close and you can see a few dozen bullet holes on the plywood exterior - the bullet marks are lined up and down the exterior - residents say these are the from what sounded like a machine gun. They even shot a hole in the ground with what residents say sounded like a 12 gauge shotgun.
Around 11:45 pm a trio of gunmen arrived at the yard on a boat that came down the river.
Police say the men knocked at their door and pretended to be police officers looking for Darren Banks - who does reportedly have a relative nearby.
But not at this house and the owner Mark Cherrington disclaimed any knowledge but for some reason, they still opened fire on the house.
A neighbor told us what he heard:
Neighbor
"Suddenly I heard gunshots, I was wondering if a war was going on or it was fire crackers. Then I heard water mobile took off down the river."
Figuring the gunmen were gone across he ran to the home to render aid:
Neighbor
"I stand up near the fence and I call out "Mark" and I heard a little crying inside and I heard his daughter say that her father cannot move because he got shot. I then heard his wife call out saying 'Erwin, please come help me'. When I got there I see the young lady laying down in the bedroom area with blood all over her two hands."
Jules Vasquez
"Two hands?"
Neighbor
"The young man Mr. Cherington was sitting in a corner holding his stomach, he said to me that he could barely breathe."
Still, they had to wait for an ambulance which was forced to park about half a mile away on holy Emmanuel Street -while the BERT team ran in with a pair of stretchers - to take the injured out on a boat:
Neighbor
"The stretcher came and I help put him on the stretcher. I help to put him in the boat and then I came across to assist the kids and so on."
Those children are still with neighbors and very traumatized
Neighbor
"The kids say that they dent want to live at the back here anymore. One of the little boys is still in shock."
Police recovered multiple 5.56 millimeter rounds - which are used in machine guns as well as 12 gauge cartridges. A chilling event for this remote area
Neighbor
"I have a fear in deed. I will not tell you a lie. I thought I was brave but I have a fear now. You don't know what can happen to you in these areas."
The victims, Mark Cherrington and Jenine Parham are reported in stable condition at the KHMH. Cherrington was shot to the back and Parham to the left elbow and right hand. They were conveyed to the hospital by boat which took them from Dungulung to the BUCA shell gas station across the river where an ambulance picked them up. That route was used because getting them from behind the area where they live would have required a half a mile walk with the stretchers through an unlit mud path across those rickety bridges we showed you in that story.
The couple declined our request for an interview today. Cherrington is a tour guide and a fisherman. They have been living in the area for less than a year.
It wasn't mentioned in the story, but the gunmen all wore masks. They escaped by boat and police have no named suspects at this time….
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