From the Belize Times

Belize City – On the same week Belize was named the 3rd most dangerous country in the world by the United Nations this week, criminal violence has escalated with six cold murders in just four days across the country. Four of those murders occurred in Belize City alone.

The latest homicide occurred in the broad daylight on Tuesday afternoon. Well known cyclist, 41 year old Ernest “Dangalong” Thurton, had stopped by his aunt’s house in the Junesville Area when he was attacked by a gunman who fatally shot him in the back.

Thurton, who is employed by Santiago Castillo Limited as a messenger, was delivering company payments in the form of cheques earlier, and it is believed that may have been the motive for the attack. The Police have not said if anything was taken from Thurton. Thurton is not known as a troublemaker. He had stopped by his aunt’s home to ensure that it was secure. His aunt is in the United States, and Thurton had been securing the house.

Thurton’s murder is the fourth in what has been a bloody chronology of violence which began on Saturday.

Even UDP Minister Anthony Boots Martinez got a dreadful, up close view of the bloody street warfare which his Government has nurtured with their refusal to genuinely get young, frustrated black males out of poverty and socio-economic decline, when he witnessed a murder on Saturday evening. The Minister was playing “danimoes”, as he called it, less than 10 feet from the exact crime spot inside the age-old Mike’s Club, located on Regent Street West.

27 year old Darrington Lauriano, a known street figure who has had major brushes with the law in the past, had no idea that death had followed him there. According to Martinez, who is the failed Minister of Human Development and Social Transformation, he heard gunshots and his “security instincts” forced him to the ground. When he looked up, Lauriano’s motionless body lay in a pool of blood.

The gunman has only been identified as someone wearing a white T-shirt. He walked right into the club and shot Lauriano from point blank range, then walked right out.

No one else was injured by the gunman, but several persons suffered various types of injuries from jumping over tables and the verandah in an attempt to flee the danger zone.

The second murder occurred around 9:30 on Saturday night, through Rhaburn’s Alley, which is a narrow easement that connects North Front Street and Victoria Street.

Residents say that an unknown male person rode through the alley and simply fired shots at a group of men who were socializing. Several of the shots caught 57 year old Alfonso Cruz, who is employed as a heavy equipment operator. He was rushed to the hospital, but declared dead on arrival.

The third murder in the old, deadly capital occurred late Sunday April 13th night. 18 year old Kevin Rodriguez, who was staying at a family member’s home on Curl Thompson Street, stepped outside only to be ambushed by a barrage of gunshots. Rodriguez was shot several times in the chest and legs

Police have not detained anyone for any of the three ruthless murders.

For more on this story go to: http://www.belizetimes.bz/2014/04/17/bloody-streets-6-murders-in-4-days/