There was a shooting last night on San Pedro, which unfortunately, has now turned into a murder investigation.
The victim is 25 year-old Scott Charles, a tour guide of the Bay Side area of the island town. His loved-ones say that he is a hard-working family man, but last night, gunmen went hunting him at his house. Reports to police are that gunmen knocked on his door, and when he opened it, they opened fire. We've spoken with his family today, and their account is a little different. They believe that his killers were watching him, and as soon they realized that he was alone, they kicked in his door and shot him to death.
He was injured in the abdomen and the upper part of the thigh, and first responders managed to rush him in time to the San Pedro Poly Clinic. He was then airlifted to the KHMH in Belize City, where the doctors performed life saving surgeries on him. He clung to life until this afternoon, when his prognosis took a turn for the worst.
His grieving family is now trying to cope with the sudden loss, and today, we spoke with his girlfriend. She was the last person to see him alive last night before she left for church. She told us that she got the news no one ever wants to hear, and she rushed to the Polyclinic just in time to travel with him to the KHMH on the air ambulance. She recounted the conversation she had with him on the flight, and she tried to encourage him to stay strong, and survive for their 8-month-old daughter. Here's what she had to say this evening:
Nicole Menzies, Girlfriend of the Deceased
"I ran on the pier with my baby and when I saw him in that condition I was in a shock, but I was just trying to be strong not to cry in front on him and when I was speaking to him I asked what happened and he told me he got shot. And so I asked the people where he got shot and they say he got 2 shots; on in the abdomen and one in the leg. I asked if he was critical and they told me they don't really know and that he is a stable condition. I asked if he was serious and they say they can't tell me because they aren't doctors."
"I was speaking to him on the plane to tell him to stay focus and to try to stay awake, because if he fell asleep he might end up dying on me. I told him to be strong for his baby. I told him that he will recover because he is strong and to be strong for the baby, because I don't want it to be like him and I; he father and my father died when we were only 2 years old. We have in common basically everything,"
"I told him that I don't want my baby to be like that. I want to her to know her father when she is grown. My princess stick to her father. I don't understand why they wanted to kill him, because he is not a trouble maker, he is a hard working tour guide person. He didn't deserve to die. He didn't do anybody anything. But whosoever killed him, I am watching you straight in your face and all what I have to tell you all, is that I forgive you, Jesus loves you and vengeance is in the hands of God. Whatever you do, you conscience will kill you and you will come to the foot of God and ask for forgiveness and what you did, you better pray that God doesn't turn his back on you. That is all I have to tell you all."
"He was actually a sweet loving person. He likes to party on the weekends with his friends. He come and spend time with me. Now and again we go for a walk and eat ice cream in town. When he is in the mood, he takes me to swim. That was the last thing we do together."
Reporter
"Did you or any members of the family ever suspected that he may be in any kind of trouble that would suggest that somebody would want to come and shoot him?"
Nicole Menzies, Girlfriend of the Deceased
"No. Nothing I could say about that, because I know when he wakes in the morning, he goes to work. As a tour guide, he takes out the tourists on the sunset and comes home after work. Sometimes he go visit a friend that he takes as his biological brother. He would call me and let me know where he is and when he comes, he would stay at home. We would eat and then watch television and little while and then we go to sleep. That's about it with him and me."
The San Pedro Sun Newspaper reports that residents heard up to a dozen gunshots ring out in the neighbourhood. They believe that the culprits arrived and escaped by a boat that was docked nearby. The murder comes days after three males, including two minors were shot on the island.
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