There are 2 separate and unrelated murders in Belize City to report tonight, and they both happened today, within 15 hours of each other.
We start our newscast tonight with the the broad daylight killing of 44 year-old Arthur Flowers. It happened this afternoon, sometime after 3:00, at the corner of HandySide and Queen Streets. Sources tell 7News that Flowers, who is known in the area as a car wash man known as Tazz, was at the corner of the street with his bucket. The shooter had reportedly been on Handyside Street for a short time, and it is believed that he was looking for gang affiliates, since this street is considered to be part of Majestic Alley turf.
He didn't find anyone, and so, he turned his gun on Flowers, an innocent bystander, and shot him in the right temple. Police say that the shooter ran down Daly Street, jumped into a brown Dodge Neon car, and took off in the direction of Barrack Road. Flowers was rushed to the KHMH, but he died shortly after that.
This entire execution played out down the street from the Queen Street Police Station, and when we had an opportunity minutes after, we questioned Police Commissioner Allen Whylie about the proximity of this crime to the largest police station in the country. He bristled at the suggestion that it was somehow police's fault:
Allen Whylie - Commissioner of Police
"Crime could happened anywhere, Jules. Crime can happened in front of the police station. Crime has happened within the compound of the police station. So don't tell me that crime can't happen. I always insist that when these incidents happened, we need to get on the ground as early as possible and try to seek the cooperation of the witnesses and the public and that is what we can do. Crime will happen."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"But it shouldn't happen inside the police station. Yes it has. Outside the police, yes it has and a block from the police station. Is it indicative of a growing sense of disrespect by outlaws for the law men and women?"
Allen Whylie - Commissioner of Police
"I don't know how you can try to put that comparison - disrespect for the police. I think its disrespect to the citizens that they are doing it to. It's not disrespect to the police. The police have a job to do and you have to understand that the criminal elements will always be out there operating. We can't be at every street corner, but we are doing the best we are able to do under the circumstance. Nobody told the police or the individual who was shot that he would have been shot. Because if he knew he would have been shot, I'm sure he would have taken preventative action. So I think it's unfair what you are trying to say and do in terms of the police."
We'll have more on this story tomorrow.
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