BELMOPAN, Belize – The Belize government has condemned the murder of a 15-year-old boy and reiterated the need to get young children back in school to prevent them being recruited into criminal gangs.
Joshua FloresPolice Commissioner Chester Williams said that several people are assisting in the investigations into the murder of Joshua Flores on Wednesday night and that “we are working on putting the pieces together and hopefully we will be able to lay charges against those who are responsible for this particular murder.”
He said the investigations have so far revealed that “Flores was in the Back-a-Town are of Dangriga, a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean coast at the mouth of the North Stann Creek River.
Williams said that upon passing a dark area, shots were fired at him, “one of which made its mark to his head.
“He sustained injuries and was rushed to the Southern Regional Hospital where he succumbed to those injuries. From what our investigation is revealing is that he may have had some misunderstanding with some friends of his over a particular item and it was those same friends who might be responsible for his death.”
The murder came a few hours after the Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa had outlined several initiatives to get young people off the streets and back into the classroom through the efforts of the Leadership Intervention Unit.
“We saw the recruitment of a lot of young people by these gangs, a lot of young people who don’t know why they are killing one another and a lot of them becoming collateral damage, really. In one instance, a mistaken identity, and in another instance, a mistake by a police officer.
“Those are very regrettable, as Minister, and so, moving forward a lot of the initiatives that we have are targeting the very, very young. Like I said, we have to get them enrolled in school. That is why the Minister of Education has already announced that we will have free education in four schools on the south-side of Belize City,” Musa added.
He said that is very important, to get the young people back in school and “if they are not academically inclined then we can get them in any one of the entrepreneurial skills program that we have or the vocational skills training program that we have as part of the Leadership Intervention Unit”.
Meanwhile, Williams, has confirmed another shooting in the area but “thankfully the person did not die and is currently admitted in the hospital in a stable condition.
“At this time we are trying to see if there is any connection with the two. We have not been able to confirm. And yes.. .the Back-a-Town area has been an area of concern for us and I have given instructions over and over to the commander to ensure that we have a presence in the Back-a-Town area,” Williams said.
