At the top of the news, we told you how 27 year-old Kareem Clarke, the young journalist from the Amandala Press, was gunned down last night. Well, he was only the last victim of a weekend filled with violence.
The first victims were 22 year-old David Steven Rivas and a minor who were shot on Friday night. Rivas was walking his girlfriend home on Roaches Street when he was stopped by 3 friends who wanted to wish him happy birthday in advance. In a few hours he would have celebrated his 22nd birthday. It became tragic because, just that moment, a gunman appeared from out of the darkness and fired several gunshots at them. He was hit multiple times, but reports say that his assailant made sure to finished the job by then turning him over and shooting him a few more times before leaving the scene. He and the minor were rushed to the KHMH but at around 1:19 a.m. on Saturday, his birthday, he passed away.
In a press briefing today, police told us what they know so far:
Supt Hilberto Romero, O.C., CIB, Belize City Police
"Acting upon information received on Friday 3rd, July around 10p.m., Police visited Roches Street in the Martin's Area where they found David Rivas, twenty one years with gunshot injuries. He was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead thereafter. An investigation was conducted, several statements have been recorded and no one has been detained or charged for this murder. We had conflict with persons in that area. He was hanging out at a particular area when he was targeted."
Today, we spoke to his family who told us that Rivas had requested that if he should be killed, that they should not grant any interviews to the press. They told us that he was expecting to be killed sometime soon, and according to his sister, he asked that none of his family make comments because he didn't want to give the gunmen the satisfaction that his family was grieving and hurt.
They did tell us that he was a very young welder who started getting recognition for his skills from a very young age, and he was instrumental in dismantling half of the old Belize City Civic Center with his crew. His family says that he was targeted by the gang elements in the City who were trying to establish turf. They say that he has resisted all attempts by the gangs to recruit him, and that's why he became the target of violence, such as being stabbed twice, once with an icepick. They say that he had been predicting he would be killed before he made it to his birthday.
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