Tonight the city is recovering from a highly stressful day that teetered between panic and pandemonium- and the George Street area is traumatized after four well known neighborhood men were found dead an apartment building; they were the victims of a mass murder, the likes of which have never been seen in Belize before.
The apartment at the corner of Dean and Plues is known to be the turf and one of the home bases of the George Street Gang. But sometime between last night and this morning, what is believed to have been a team of assassins went in to the building and with unheard-of stealth and surgical precision, cut the throats of four men: 30 year old Leonard "Ghost" Meyers, 19 year old Albert "Long John" Fuentes, 40 year old Keino Quallo and 28 year old Anthony Perez.
Ghost Meyers and Long John Fuentes are considered to be senior functionaries of the George Street Gang - Quallo was basically their run man, and from what we have gathered Perez was just seeking lodging.
But they were all killed last night - and the mass murder has left George street reeling and directly accusing their nemesis the GSU of carrying out state sponsored executions.
And that's because this mass murder defies the central logic of a gang; the apartment is in what is known as Gaza Turf - and no rival gang would dare go in there - in fact as far as the neighborhood known - only the police can.
That's the broad outline of a very complex story with far reaching implications; a story that sent the city reeling into panic today - and forced a spontaneous, panicked shutdown of downtown businesses.
The murder happened two blocks west of our studio and all of us were on the scene. Jules Vasquez begins our team coverage on Dean Street:
Jules Vasquez reporting
Police cordoned off Dean Street this morning and secured the area with many guns the crowd - including this mother swelling at the police line with a grim sense of foreboding and by 8:45 the first body came out and with each successive body another wave of grief with each movement from the police more hostility from the crowd Gerald Shiny Tillet the man recognized as the leader of George Street was also respectfully restrained when he tried to cross the police barrier but that only riled the crowd up more while the sister of Leonard Meyers collapsed in the street overcome by grief - overwhelmed at the sight of her brother's body as quickly as possible police moved off - against traffic on Dean Street - leaving behind an angry, volatile mood in the street - the neighborhood dead sure that the police - more specifically the GSU had done this one look at the crime scene and you'd have to ask who could do this - it was a bloodbath - pools of blood in the hallways this one right at the back door this one from the hallway into the bedroom, the fan still blowing - and the radio on and in the adjoining bedroom, another swatch of blood in this room there was blood and on the bed - some suspicious items, a box of latex gloves and what looks like a utility blade - was it left behind by the scenes of crime team, the killers…we can't say.
Like these two red shirts left out to dry- and the scarlet splash of blood on the cement floor - leave more questions than answers but on the streets - they wanted immediate answers and action and pretty soon, things started to jump off when the Belize Special Assignment group descended at the corner of George and Basra Streets - which is where they had a confrontation with Marlon Yorke whose stepson was among the dead. That set everything off.
Marlon Yorke - claims he was roughed Up by police
"I was taking pictures of what had happened out here earlier and the GSU came and told me that I can't have my camera. They arrest me and punch me in my jaw and tried to slam me down. They totally disrespect me. All I am doing is taking pictures. They had already kill stepson and rip out his throat upstairs at the boutique."
Jules Vasquez
"Were you like all up in their face?"
Marlon Yorke
"No I was at my business. They came and just drove by and jump out the truck and arrest me."
Jules Vasquez
"Did they have any physical contact with you?"
Marlon Yorke
"Yes they arrest me and punch me in my jaw and that what's made everything jumped off."
With some in the crowd having witnessed that - they just needed a reason to go off on police - and from there it went from volatile to violent very quickly:
Behind them - these two soldiers kept their guns trained on lower George Street - which is traditionally known as the base of the George Street gang - to make sure there was no attack from behind. Seconds later, the first bottle flew - and that's when the B-Sag went into super aggressive mode.
At the next sound - they opened fire and more pints flew - followed by more shots that was the end of the exchange but more police were descending on the area quickly asserting control of the area and on the other side of Basra street still on George - another police operation - clearing the area and conducting rapid searches of targeted homes from there police and B-Sag AR-15 rifles on the ready ON THE GORUND and up above and while the public was dispersed - police picked up the expended shells from the rounds they had fired.
Riot ready GSU moved in to solidify their position while we were moved back again they held the area like this for half an hour and after that they readied to roll out still watching for threats from all sides.
AR-15's on the ready, a shattered car window and a few shards of stout pints but no one threw pints as they left no one dared and when those shots were fired, the panic went out in waves - nearby Wesley Lower School - just a block from the action pulled it doors with parents taking home their children.
And in downtown Belize City the shutters started coming down - first was Gaylord - which had been looted in the 2005 riots. Other businesses followed bogus word went out that there was a riot forming or marauding gunmen in the street - none of which were true but the mere word of it was enough to cause mass closures.
And slammed shutters even at the banks in the downtown area. The same at schools all across the city - this one on the north side - where parents called in a panic responding to rumors that there would be a riot.
With such widespread panic - parents got their kids home as best and as fast as they could while Dean Street remained under lock down.
Of course, we'll have much more form George Street later on as Monica Bodden will speak with all the families of the deceased - and sampled bitter emotional sentiment in the neighborhood. But, first to the state response to contain the public terror in the city.
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