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Around 7:00, 23 year old Akeem Vargas was gunned down near his home on Wagner's Lane. When police got to the scene, they found his motionless body riddled with multiple gunshot wounds. Emanuel Pech has more details on this story.

Emanuel Pech reporting
The pitter patter of the raindrops might have made for a lyrical sort of melancholic scene, had this not also been a crime scene. Police responded to a shooting incident around 7:00 pm. Shortly after, the paramedics arrived but there was little anyone could do; the gunman got his target. The victim is 23 year old Akeem Vargas, a Belizean construction worker who was gunned down in this alley just a stone's throw from his home. We spoke to his Common law wife today. She told us that he was going to borrow a bicycle so he can run an errand when he was shot and killed.

Tiffara Wallace - Common-law of Deceased
"When he was going for the bike I was coming out of my yard. At that same time my mom was coming; she had some money for me. So I told my mom that I am going out, my mom said wait let me give you the money. I said, if you give me the money I don't have to go to the ATM, because I had like $170 something in my hand. She was giving me the money but she was looking around to find her purse. At that time, he is already through the alley going to the next alley to find the bike. As my mom was about to hand me the money in my hand we hear a barrage of shots."

This morning you could still see the blood stains on the gravel, where he lay bleeding from several wounds.

Tiffara Wallace- Common-law of Deceased
"When we reach at the alley I saw him on the ground quailing, his hand was on his throat. I ran and I said, babe please get up, please get up. I lift up his head and when I lift up his head all I see coming through his head was pure blood running out. He was gurgling cause he wasn't gone at that point yet. He Trying to talk and I told him, babe please don't talk."

Lorna Maria Sanchez- Mother-in-law of Victim
"When I reached the alley, I saw the body down there. I knew it was him right away because his dreads were sticking out. So, I ran to the body and I stooped down and said, talk to me, say something to me, please say something to me. Then I noticed blood is coming from his head. I said, please say something to me. All the young man said was 'mmh' and he died."

Earlier street reports claimed this latest homicide was a result of Akeem's affiliation with the Jump Street Gang. However, the family affirms that that is not the case. Rather, they say it was his choice NOT to affiliate himself that got him killed.

Tiffara Wallace
"One thing I want to get clear from the media is that my buay was not a gang affiliate. He is originally from Dangriga. He came and we have been together for four years. He has been with me through thick and thin, he minds my kids and does everything for me that I can possibly ask for and that is all I ask god for, to give me someone who will be there for me and he did that. The news that came up before said he was a part of Jump Street gang and that it was a George Street who killed him. No George Street killed him. It was a Jump Street that killed him because he does not associate himself with no one. He is someone who keeps to himself. He was this person that doesn't bow down to the boss. He did his own stuff. He goes where he wants. He has a sister that lives in the George Street area he goes and nobody messes with him. He is not a troublesome guy."

It is this same independence that gained him and the family some enemies in the neighborhood. Akeem's father corroborated that story.

Eaton Garcia- Father of Victim
"A couple of weeks ago he told me something, you know, so I told him, why don't you come back to Dangriga, let's go."

Emanuel Pech- Reporter
"Do you think he was feeling threatened?"

Eaton Garcia
"He was, he was because he told me."

Emanuel Pech- Reporter
"What exactly did he tell you?"

Eaton Garcia
"That they have some guys living in the neighborhood that always try to chase him when they see him. And they always tell him to his face that they will kill him. I know one of them."

In the meantime the family is left picking up the pieces of their broken home.

Lorna Maria Sanchez- Mother-in-law of Victim
"We had plans to renovate this house. He was going to be the one to make it happen, by working. But he is gone now and nobody is here now to do anything. So, they don't know what they do. He doesn't mess with nobody like that."

Reporting for 7 news, Emanuel Pech.

Police say it was the act of a single gunman. Street reports suggest that, indeed, he was killed by someone from that neighborhood.