Last night in Orange Walk Town a 34-year-old Customs Officer narrowly escaped death. Jose Acevedo arrived home at 8:00 pm when he was ambushed by two armed men. One of them held a .45 caliber weapon, and the gunman pulled the trigger, but the gun snapped. Orange Walk police told us what happened next:
Insp. Jose Mendez, OW Police
"Well he was at his residence in his yard and he approach the gate and notice that the person had a firearm aiming at him. Upon seeing his actions, ran into his yard, tumble down and manage to grab his 9mm license firearm and fired 1 single shot after the individual."
When police responded, they found the assailant turned shooting victim lying on the ground with a loaded .45 pistol beside him. That's a prohibited firearm and considered one of the deadliest handguns in the world. He was taken to the hospital and identified as 21 year old Nigel Galvez from Belmopan. He was shot in the pelvis area and transported to the KHMH where he is stable. His mother says that police have it all wrong and that he is the victim, who was shot by two men who were trailing him. According to family and friends, he would never do something like this.
It's of very significant note that this same Customs officer was shot in the shoulder in mid-July. On that occasion, he was shot in the shoulder as he was driving along the Southern highway heading to his Hope Creek home. He had just returned from that injury earlier this week when he was targeted in Orange Walk.
Acevedo works with the Northern Customs Strike Team which is known to up-end contrabandists - but senior Customs officials say they do not believe it is work related.
The alleged assailant Nigel Galvez is under police guard at the KHMH.
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