But first......There was a broad daylight shooting this morning in Belmopan. The single gunshot rang out at 11:10 am – just feet away from the Belmopan Magistrate’s Court house where court was in session. That’s right, just steps from a courtroom, a man was shot in the face. That man is Noel Herrera who is alive and doing well considering a bullet is still lodged in his cheek. His shooter has been identified as Michael Broaster, who is known in Roaring Creek as “Chronic.” This morning’s shooting was part of an ongoing battle between two different groups in Roaring Creek – the “outlawz“ and the “rudeboiz.” The groups clashed on Friday at a bar in Belmopan and rival members were formally charged in court today, which is why war erupted outside the courthouse. Keith Swift went to Belmopan for the story.

Keith Swift Reporting,
The bandage on Noel Herrera’s face covers the bullet wound he received this morning on his right cheek. Herrera was shot in broad daylight in of all places, here in front of First Caribbean Bank in Belmopan’s market square. He was shot less than a hundred feet from Belmopan’s Magistrate’s Court where he and his brother Juvencio were securing bail for a family member.

Juvencio Herrera, Brother of Shooting Victim
“My little brother was coming from the market where he went to buy cigarette and thing for me and they passed him and they started to point up in his face and they threw a hand at him. He sticked up back the fools who were trying to beat him up. It was three of them and they couldn’t do him anything and after he sticked the one who had the gun, he hurried hauled out a small gun and shot my brother in his right hand, side of his jaw. But it was nothing, my little brother’s teeth stopped it. He said he was trying to catch it in his mouth.”

Keith Swift,
What is his condition right now?

Juvencio Herrera,
“Well nothing serious. By the morning he will be out.”

Keith Swift,
Did your brother provoke this attack in anyway?

Juvencio Herrera,
“No, they provoked him.”

Herrera’s nephew Lorenzo Ho was upstairs in the Belmopan Magistrate Court’s holding cell awaiting bail when he heard the gunshot.

Lorenzo Ho, Nephew of Shooting victim
“When we went to court this morning they went there, took a gun into the courthouse and thing, and when I was upstairs waiting for bail, I was sitting down and my uncles were at the bottom because I brought them to bail me but my mom and sister hauled up and said they would bail we better. So my uncles stayed there waiting for us so we could go home. We were sitting waiting for the bail and we heard bang and they told us they shot my uncle. They took him to the hospital and after shooting him, the guys ran and up to now they still haven’t caught them and it was right in front of the courthouse.”

Police won’t say if the gun was actually taken into the courtroom but the lead investigator says they do know the identity of the shooter.

WCPL Alma Mortis, Investigator
“We are now looking for one Michael Broaster, also known as Chronic, from the Roaring Creek area.”

Keith Swift,
I know it is early in your investigation but what motivated the shooting?

WCPL Alma Mortis,
“It was just a little misunderstanding between both persons.”

Keith Swift,
And you believe Mr. Broaster was the gunman?

WCPL Alma Mortis,
“Yes.”

And though the arrest was imminent, the Herrera family is upset and outraged they weren’t even safe outside a courtroom.

Keith Swift,
Did you expect he would have a gun on him?

Juvencio Herrera,
“No, not at the courthouse. Maybe on another street or maybe someone was holding it for him at the market square or something but I didn’t expect him to have it way upstairs at the courthouse. That tells you that the police need to take drastic measures. It shows the law isn’t really doing their job and thing because they should have at least have something there where they rub down or a metal detector to check who goes up at the court or thing because innocent people’s lives are in jeopardy. Supposed he would have shot somebody who was passing by innocently.”

Keith Swift,
Will you retaliate?

Lorenzo Ho,
“Well boss we won’t retaliate because it is already in the police’s hands and thing. The only way we would retaliate is if they come in front of us and thing and if we meet them in our site and thing and if they are in front of us and want to do us something then we would have to retaliate because we cannot leave ourselves. We have to defend.”

Juvencio Herrera,
“Our side noh really into trouble and thing. They are causing all the problems. It looks like they want us to end it by ending some of their lives. It looks like that is what they want and then it will end. The way how I see it, that is the end.”

Late reports to 7NEWS are that the alleged shooter Michael Broaster has surrendered.