Last night we told you about Jorge Celis - the Orange Walk resident who is at the KHMH recovering after a policeman fired a gunshot - which left two lead fragments in his eye.
The official story that police put out is that Sergeant Roberto Novelo, who was off duty and armed with his licensed 9 millimeter pistol, visited an Orange Walk bar and had an altercation with three men - including Celis - who had been drinking.
Police said that the men tried to take his weapon - which is when the gun accidentally went off - and Celis was injured with a bullet fragment.
But while that is the official police story, Celis has a different account - and he gave it to Monica Bodden from his hospital bed this morning:
Monica Bodden Reporting
On Monday Night, at around 10 p.m., Jorge Celis arrived in an ambulance at the KHMH. Nurses waited for him outside the emergency unit with a wheelchair, which he later got into and was wheeled away inside the hospital.
Celis had been shot at around 6 o'clock that same evening by an off-duty police sergeant, while socializing inside Picame Bar in Orange Walk Town.
He told us the incident started when Sergeant Roberto Novelo - who is presently attached to the Criminal Investigation Branch in Belize City - came up to a group of them who were socializing inside the bar and requested that they buy him drinks.
When they declined his request, that was when the sergeant allegedly pulled out a bottle of pepper spray and began spraying in their direction.
Jorge Celis - Shooting Victim
"This incident took place on Monday, at around 5:30 - 6 in the evening. We went into this bar, and after a little while, this guy just approached us and - "
Monica Bodden
"A police officer?"
Jorge Celis
"Yes, a police officer, he approached us and was asking for us to buy some beers for him; we did not. He then started to curse, and he took out a pepper spray. After that, we approached him afterwards because he had already sprayed us with the pepper spray. He then took out his gun, and that's when we had to struggle with him. He had to, because he was under the influence of alcohol."
That struggle resulted in three shots being fired off from Sergeant Roberto Novelo's licensed 9 millimeter glock pistol. One of the bullets ricocheted off a wall in the bar, and two pieces of lead from it's fragments, entered the right eye of Jorge Celis.
Jorge Celis
"We did struggle with him, and we got him down on the ground. And that's when he fired the 3 shots."
Monica Bodden
"So, while struggling with him on the ground, that's was when the 3 shots went off. 1 of the bullets hit a wall and then-"
Jorge Celis
"It hit me in the eye. Belize City police came here when I reached on Monday night from Orange Walk. They did come - but from Orange Walk police - I haven't heard anything from them."
Police have not said if the gun used in the incident is the property of the police department or Novelo's personal weapon. And while Celis is admitted at the hospital waiting to get operated on his eye, he is still hoping that the police conduct a proper investigation on one of their very own.
Jorge Celis
"Yesterday, I went to take a CT scan, and it revealed the eye is not hurt. The nerves are okay, but the swelling just needs to come down so that I can take the surgery, so that they can remove the two pieces of lead. It's not going to be right now, according to the doctor."
Monica Bodden
"Do you work? Is this interfering with your job?"
Jorge Celis
"Yes, I work at Belize Sugar Industries, and I really want to get this off. Well, I just would want the Orange Walk police to do their proper investigations, and we really want to know if he has a licensed firearm, or if it was his weapon that he has when he works. That's why I really want them to do their proper investigations."
So far the police investigation does not support that account. A special team of investigators has been dispatched from Belize City CIB - where Novelo is stationed. That team has found that Celis and two other men initiated the fight with Sergeant Novelo - who then pulled out his firearm and fired three shots.
That investigation has not been completed, but, in the interim, Sergeant Novelo has been released from custody of Orange walk Police without charges. We note that for the average civilian accused of discharging a firearm in public, standard procedure is that charges follow automatically - with automatic remand for those charges.
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