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Tonight, the family of 35-year-old Derrick Ramirez, a fisherman from Dangriga Town, is very worried about him. That’s after he went out on a fishing trip with 2 other family members, and while diving for Lobster, a rival fisherman and his associates allegedly tried to kill him over fishing turf.

Kevin Hernandez, Ramirez’s brother, reported to police that on last Sunday, August 4th, he was on a fishing trip with Ramirez and his brother-in-law Joseph Coleman. They were in an area half a mile north of Cross Caye, and they were diving for lobster.

They reportedly encountered another boat on the sea, and the captain was someone Ramirez recognized. The two groups of men allegedly had an exchange of words. This fisherman reportedly told them to leave the area, and to not dive for lobster in that location.

The men were allegedly in the process of complying, and when they arrived at their fishing camp, they began packing up.  

Hernandez said that about 25 minutes later, this rival fisherman approached them, and he was accompanied by 2 persons. One man was reportedly armed with what appeared to be an M4 carbine assault weapon, and the other was armed with 9mm pistol. 

Those armed men allegedly immediately took aim at Ramirez and opened fire on him. Ramirez fled into the nearby mangroves, but his assailants chased after him. Shortly afterwards, Ramirez’s brother and his brother-in-law heard the sounds of gunshots coming from the direction he ran.  They then spotted the two armed assailants speeding off on their boat.

Herandez and Coleman went looking for Ramirez in the mangrove, but up to now, he still cannot be found. There are concerns that these assailants shot and killed him in the mangrove area where he fled.

Police have initially detained one man pending investigation.