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But, this one happened at a popular nightspot, and unleashed chaos in the heart of Dangriga town. Courtney Weatherburne went there today looking for answers:..

Courtney Weatherburne reporting
For Wadani Shed owner David Rodriguez, this blooded grey t-shirt was the only thing between him and the bullet that struck his chest on Saturday night.

At first, he didn't feel the pang of pain nor the blood soaking his shirt. He only felt the bullet lodged in his chest.

David Rodriguez, Wadani Shed Owner
"I kind of went down on my knees and I said 'wait I can feel this bullet'. I tried to take the bullet out of my chest, and I couldn't get it out. I started to squeeze. I call one of my friends, Anthony Garbutt who does construction, and I told him 'take it out for me, it can come out'. He took out the bullet."

But Rodriguez was only one of 4 who were shot at the Wadani Shed. Rodriguez was hanging out with his customers, playing another round of 'Dice' when someone opened fire under the shed.

David Rodriguez, Wadani Shed Owner
"A bunch of us were around a table. Me, 'shiny', a friend 'sharpie', a next guy Jason Williams, a bunch of us were around the table. Someone just came from behind, I couldn't even tell if he was in a vehicle or on a bike. He just started to shoot and I saw men falling."

Reputed George Street Gang leader Gerald "Shiny" Tillet was the first to fall with a bullet to the head. After that, Rodriguez and another friend Carlos Sharp were shot to the chest. But the exchange of gunfire didn't end there, another one of Tillet's friends who was under the shed pulled out his gun and shot the gunman in his back as he tried to escape. Now, although Rodriguez is recovering, he is still traumatized because he says he got caught in the middle of someone else's mess:

David Rodriguez, Wadani Shed Owner
"I'm not into gang and those things. I'm almost 50 years old to be fooling with those things when I have a beautiful family. I don't want this to be a threat to my family. we have nothing to do with this."

Apart from Rodriguez, the entire community is still shaken. One of the eyewitnesses told us off camera that this type of shoot-out doesn't happen in the Culture Capital.

Voice of Eyewitness
"Everyone here at Dangriga was so shocked because we aren't used to gun shots. We are used to sitting down in any corner of our house, we are used to any area just for sitting and hanging out. Like how you're here today, every corner you see someone sitting down, a group of men sitting down. That's what we're used to, we sit down at any corner of our houses at any time of the day. We aren't used to those gun shots."

Although the community wasn't expecting an outburst of violence like this, the police always have to be prepared and they are working closely with their Belize City counterparts in the investigation. That is because Tillet's murder may be linked to a gang rivalry in Belize City. Assistant Superintendent of Police in Dangriga Mark Stevens could not elaborate on that gang connection but he told us that police have everything under control.

ASP Mark Stevens, Dangriga Police Formation
"I want to reassure the residents of Dangriga that we are implementing some strategies/operations to deal with what happened because we expect that there will be retaliatory shootings. That is what we are currently trying to prevent."

But regardless of the increased foot and vehicular police patrols, this execution style murder and shoot out has left behind a thick imprint of fear that has turned this once fun and popular hangout spot into a danger zone. So much so that the Wadani shed might just be closed down for good.

David Rodriguez, Wadani Shed Owner
"I'm thinking about closing down the shed at the end of the year and do something else. I don't want to have my family in trouble for other people. I think this is my last year there, I don't even want to be a part of that anymore. I told my nephew to take care of that."

As you saw, Rodriguez is recovering at home but Carlos Sharp is still hospitalized. Now as for the alleged gunman who killed Tillett he too is hospitalized and is under heavy police guard at an undisclosed hospital.

In August of 2015, this same suspect got off the murder of Mennonite businessman, Wendell Reimer at Eagle One Hardware near the Haulover Bridge. And while he is from Dangriga, police believe he has links to Belize City gangs, links that were solidified when he spent four years in jail on remand for the Reimer murder, and developed alliances with a number of city gang figures.