7 News Belize

Man Killed On "Jump Street"
posted (April 16, 2012)
Twenty hours later - another man fell to gun violence in Belize City. 25 year old Clifton Flores was killed on Wagner's Lane where he was known to hang out.

Wagner's Lane - or Jump Street as it is known - has been the site of an extraordinary number of shootings in and around the area for the past few years.

And on Saturday night, there was one more - but this one was fatal. Clifton Flores died on the spot - and here is what it looked like at the scene:

Inspector Fitzroy Yearwood, Police Press Officer
"What we have gathered so far is that Flores was on Wagner's Lane socializing on the side of the street with some other men when a lone gunman approached him and opened fire on him."

"Flores was hit in the head several times and in the chest. We are still trying to find witnesses because this happened around 10:30 in the night. Wagner's Lane is a very small densely populated area; the street itself is very small and the houses are very close. So we are trying to see if witnesses would come forward being that this is an area where Mr. Flores used frequently."

Jules Vasquez reporting
25 year old Clifton Flores had lived a life of danger. In 2007, he was in this car with his family when three masked gunmen came out of nowhere and shot up the car.

Flores survived that but continued to be a target of police after being charged for a number of armed robberies.

In 2008, the then 21 year old Flores said police beat him up:

Clifton Flores, Dec 2008
"My injuries are wounding. I was bashed in the face; I got about four stitches in my mouth; my whole body is swelled up and bruised up. I can't walk. I am in bad pain right now."

Keith Swift,
"And you said you did nothing wrong."

Clifton Flores,
"I did nothing wrong. I wasn't charged, I wasn't even put in a detention cell. It was no question or nothing, just beating."

One month later, in early 2009, he was on West Canal when he was shot by a man on bike, Flores was hit to four parts of his body but survived.

Jules Vasquez
"Might his homicide be related to violent or crime related events in his past?"

Inspector Fitzroy Yearwood, Police Press Officer
"We are not ruling that out. Actually investigators are trying to examine some of the reports involving him from the past to see if we can find who would have had motives."

"We are not ruling out anything but the best witness is a witness and we are asking the general public for help. We want to see a cease to all these street violence and we are asking the public that only they can help us to stop this. Come forward and give us information."

Despite his public record of brushes with death and the law, we stress, as far as our checks showed, Flores was not convicted for any crimes. We wanted to get his family's side of the story, but they declined an interview today.

Police do have the name of one suspect for his murder.

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