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A brazen midday shooting today sent down town city shoppers scrambling for safety. It happened around 11 this morning at the corner of Orange and George Streets. As you may know Orange Street is one of the busiest commercial zones of down town Belize City and is also one of the main arteries that lead to the centre of town. But amidst the hustle and bustle of a normal day at this commercial epicentre, a gunman was lurking, and out of nowhere, he began shooting. His intended target got away with nothing but a graze, according to our sources. And fortunately no passers-by were injured. Police believe that the gunman arrived in a vehicle that rushed him away after missing his target. Â  And while they believe the incident is the product of gang rivalry, the Officer Commanding South Side Division would not tell us who the two groups involved are for fear of further escalations. However he claims they are making major progress in this investigation. 

ACP Chester Williams - OC, Eastern Division South
"I know that this was sometime around 11 this morning. There was a shooting on Orange Street, corner Orange and George Street. So far we have not received a complaint from the person who may have been the intended target. But police have acted very swiftly and with assistance of the Gang Suppression Unit we have recovered or we have found the vehicle we believe was involved in that shooting. And in that vehicle we have 3 persons and those 3 persons have been detained and are in police custody and they are currently being investigated as it relates to that shooting. The police also recovered within the vehicle some 9 millimetre live round of ammunition for which those persons will be charged."

Emanuel Pech
"You guys have any idea who might be the ones involved in this; particular individuals of interest?"

ACP Chester Williams - OC, Eastern Division South
"I am not going to venture down the road to say which group is involved or not involved because by doing that on national TV you could create additional flare up in different areas as it relates to gang activities and what we will do is to move quickly with the investigation and see how best through our intervention we can move quickly to see again what is the issue between the two groups involved and see how best we can assist in defusing that issue."