Last night, the unthinkable happened at the University of Belize Central Campus in Belmopan: a group of bandits stormed into the dorm building, and robbed 9 students at gunpoint. Very fortunately, no one was hurt, but the school is reporting – quite understandably - that the students were traumatized.
And right that they should be: sometime around 7:00, the six masked men, dressed in black, each of them armed with either a handgun or a shotgun went into the students individual rooms and forced them outside into the common area – the living room. That's where they were tied up and left for an hour, while the men thoroughly ransacked all the rooms. They stole laptops, cell phones, cash and other personal items totaling a considerable $41,108 dollars. The men collected the items, left the students tied up, and fled. After some time, at around 8:30, the students – sensing the threat was gone - finally got to call for help. A statement from UB says the students were Athletes on the Scholarship Program and international students from the English as a Second Language Program.
Last night, University staff accompanied the students to file Police reports and they have also been offered counseling. UB additional measures have been implemented "to ensure students' physical and emotional well-being."
Belmopan police have no suspects detained at this time. They suspect it is a ring of armed robbers that have been creating havoc in the capital city for the last month. In previous cases, though, they were identified as a group of three, similarly, armed, masked and clothed in black,. Today, police are saying last night's attack was pulled off by a group of six, while UB in its statement says it was five.
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