Tonight, it is as if the landscape of the entire Belize society has changed; the two most prominent gang leaders in the country, Shelton Pinky Tillett and Arthur Young are dead - after a weekend that rocked the nation to its core and caused widespread panic and public terror.
First off, despite reports that there had been a wild murder spree and a soaring body count, that didn't happen - but that doesn't mean it isn't bad as it is.
Four persons - including Pinky Tillett and his female friend - were murdered between Friday and Saturday. There were two more shootings: one on Saturday and one this morning - combined, they left three persons injured.
We'll tell you about all of them, but we start with the biggest news of the weekend: the execution of a gang boss.
For those who knew him, Shelton Pinky Tillett was not a menacing or aggressive character - but he was considered the boss of the George Street Gaza - the most powerful and dangerous gang in Belize.
Tillett himself though, seemed to have been taking it easy on Friday night; he was in the Coral Grove area with a female friend; he didn't have any soldiers with him, and his guard was down. He certainly wasn't expecting to meet a gunman on a singular mission to kill the biggest gang name in Belize.
But that's just what happened - and Monica Bodden was at the scene:..
Monica Bodden reporting
The double homicide happened at mile 2 on the Northern Highway - at the Esso Ramon's Gas Station - just before 11 on Friday night.
it was inside this white Ford Ranger pickup truck that the George Street General - Shelton Pinky Tillett was executed.
Seated on the passenger side of Tillett's vehicle - was 23 year old Kamill Andrews - who too was violently shot up.
Just before 11 that same night, both Tillett and Andrews arrived at the gas station - he parked his pickup at the entrance and went inside the store.
When he got back into the vehicle a man described as wearing a dread hat and a mask over his face - came out of a silver pathfinder -armed with a gun- and began firing shots inside the vehicle.
According to one eyewitness, at least 13 shots were fired.
Both Tillett and Andrews died just moments after and their bodies were quickly transported to the KHMH.
Back at the crime scene, it was an eerie atmosphere - as all the lights at the gas station were dimmed.
While heavily armed police officers guarded the area - and investigators processed the scene - gunshots were heard ringing off in the silence of the night - we couldn't tell from which direction they were coming from.
Tillett's Ford Ranger pick-up truck was towed away shortly after. And from where he was parked - a surveillance camera stood watch right above his vehicle - so before you know it, police had themselves a suspect.
Michelle Williams - Sister-in-law
"I received the news like 5 minutes after it happened because he was out here with us. He left from out here around 11 0' clock. Where he went I don't know because he just left in a hurry."
Monica Bodden
"So he was hanging out with you guys all along?"
Michelle Williams - Sister-in-law
"Yes, he was with us drinking."
Monica Bodden
"So, just minutes after he left then you heard?"
Michelle Williams - Sister-in-law
"Yes just minutes after, we still can't believe what happened because it happened so quickly. We heard that he was talking to someone, but we don't know who, we don't know who the gunman was. They gunned him down right there inside his vehicle."
"Apparently he got about 5 shots, but I only saw two in his neck. I don't know where he got the rest."
Monica Bodden
"When you went to view his body you only saw two in his neck?"
Michelle Williams - Sister-in-law
"Yes, the news says that he got 5 shots."
31 year old Tillett - the notorious George Street general was shot to the center of his chest, the left side of his chest, his right arm and neck. 23 year old Kamill Andrews was shot to the left arm, left arm pit, right breast and right rib cage.
Michelle Williams - Sister-in-law
"All of us are friends. I don't think that he had anything with the young lady because she is the wife of another man. So, I doubt it, everyone is friends and company. We don't want to get it twisted that she was his sweetheart or that she was the other woman. Everybody is just friends."
Even though Pinky Tillett was considered the General of one of the most infamous city gangs- many would attest that Shelton Pinky Tillett was pursuing a change for the better when he became a part of the government's newly formed gang truce which seeks to bring about peace within rival gangs. But was his quest for peace what brought this notorious street figure to his death?
Michelle Williams - Sister-in-law
"We are taking it hard because he was begging for peace and because of the peace, he put himself in the public to make it well known they gunned him down. We still can't believe that he is dead."
"He is my brother-in-law, before they say that he used to give trouble, we didn't find anything bad about him, he has changed his life and because of that he got gunned down."
"He wasn't seen in the public, but because of the gang truce and the peace he got gunned down by peace."
Monica Bodden
"Now, you think that he was genuinely into this gang truce trying to make a difference, trying to make a change?"
Michelle Williams - Sister-in-law
"Yes he was because he showed himself everywhere; everywhere they had meetings he attended."
Today family and friends of Kamill Andrews are also left to mourn her sudden passing. She was known for her jovial personality and big smile. Andrews who was a part of LA Fashions Boutique group of models was also one of the company's poster girls.
Carla Torres - Manager, LA Fashions
"Kamill has been a model with LA Fashions from the beginning. She is also a friend of LA Fashions and staff and basically that's it. We know her as a very jovial person, someone who gets along with everyone and she is always an open-minded person."
"It was just shocking because to hear of Kamill like that - at first we thought it was someone else. We didn't expect that it would have been her. It's just sad and sad to us also as part of an extended family in the sense that she was a part of LA Fashions family. She was a very vibrant part of our family and it's sad and heartbreaking."
Immediately after that killing the word went out from Police and on the streets that Arthur Young was the masked man who pulled the trigger. Bar none, Young is THE most feared man on the streets.
And that's what triggered a manhunt for the Taylor's Alley boss that ended in him being killed by police last night.
But before that happened the city - and, indeed, the country, exploded into a deepening panic - which to some extend still continues tonight. City residents feared that with the killing of the biggest gangster in the city - a full out, gang war which police could not contain would erupt on all fronts in all areas, putting the lives of regular folks at risk.
Thankfully, that did not happen, but that is not to say it was a peaceful weekend.
Far from it; it was tense, violent in areas and downright scary. Jules Vasquez followed events closely and he has this report:..
Jules Vasquez reporting
With the execution of the boss of Belize's biggest, most dangerous gang, allegedly by the boss of the second most dangerous gang of the moment, the community was gripped with the fear that a massive, indiscriminate retaliation would be launched imminently by George Street to avenge the death of their slain leader.
Police launched into an operation - this is them at the corner of George and Orange Streets two hours after the shooting.
While the senior officers of Eastern Division went into a meeting at the Raccoon street station at 2:00 am to devise a short term suppressive response.
The next afternoon we saw the GSU locking down George Streets and Wagner's Lane - but like a rubber balloon, apply pressure in one area and the concentration of mass just goes to another area.
And so, by 4:00 pm on Friday this was the scene on Caesar Ridge Road not far from the Esso Depot - another daylight murder, another paroxysm of grief - as his family - who lives up the street - angrily demanded to see the body.
26 year old Peter Flowers Jr., a stevedore lay dead on the sidewalk - reportedly killed as he was going to work.
Peters was shot, fell to the sidewalk and then his shooter, jumped out of a Black Toyota Camry and stepped up to finish him off with a relentless shower of lead, pumping Flowers with a full clip, 13 shots. Police say he had 5 gunshot wounds to the head, 3 to the abdomen, 3 to the right hand, 3 to the center of his chest, 1 to the right arm, 2 to the back, 2 to the neck, and 1 to each leg.
We saw 13 markers on the scene and as police scooped up the slug fragments - the crowd counted along.
As police got ready to move the body, pained crying could be heard, and the crowd of family, friends and onlookers pushed forward - a powerful wave of anguish swept across the gathering his sister fell back and cried as she watched the bloodstained sheet that covered her brother while his father helped put the stretcher in the pickup - and it drove off, leaving this family with nothing but unending grief.
After that, panicked false reports of all kinds of shootings and deaths went out - and by Saturday night, all you could see on Albert Street were closed shutters - merchants shut down for the busiest shopping night of the week, fearing the outbreak of gang war on the city's main street - and the same on Orange Street.
The next morning at the Raccoon Street police station, the police minister and Restore Belize held a meeting with some Gang leaders. Minister Anthony Boots Martinez was in a preparatory meeting:
Jules Vasquez
"Is this a political emergency?"
Hon. Anthony Martinez, Port Loyola Representative
"I don't know about a political emergency. I think it's an emergency - if you want to call it political emergency, I think it would be an emergency for any government."
And by the afternoon, the Prime Minister convened all his Belize City representatives and the police minister at the ITVET building to discuss a strategy for the city.
After the meeting - which lasted an hour and a half, Saldivar was non-committal:
Jules Vasquez
"Will you state making any authoritative moves to contain what people feel would be an outbreak of a gang war?"
Hon. John Saldivar, Minister of Police
"We are confident that our measures will be adequate and we'll announce them tomorrow."
That press conference was held this morning - and we'll have a full report on what was said later on.
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