By Aaron Humes: Police are investigating a shooting incident that left a 34-year-old woman, Salma Raquel Orellana Funez, dead and two others injured.
On Thursday, May 7, about 6:30 p.m., police responded to reports of a shooting at Da Buzz Lounge located at Mile 1½ on the Philip Goldson Highway. Upon arrival, they discovered the motionless body of 34-year-old Funez lying on the floor with apparent gunshot injuries to her body. Initial investigations revealed that a male person entered the establishment and briefly spoke with Funez. He thereafter went to the bathroom, returned, and fired several shots at Funez, fatally injuring her, before turning the weapon on two other female employees inside the lounge causing injuries to both of them. Both females were treated and released.
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer, indicated that the shooter wanted Funez’s phone, but still shot her after she handed it over. Police were able to quickly track him down: “Sometime around 11:30PM last night having reviewed a number of video footages this male minor was apprehended. I can also confirm that just a short while ago the firearm that was suspected to have been used in the incident was also recovered.” As of Friday, the phone had not been recovered, but police suspect that there had been communication in the form of threats directed at Funez.
As for how a minor got inside the bar, much less with a weapon, ASP Smith indicated that the police officer working special duty at the establishment was scheduled to be there by 7:30 and the minor came before hand.
Separately, ASP Smith cautioned against the inappropriate use of illustrative images by news blogs which she said could threaten the police’s investigative process, as in the case of one blog that published a purported image of the suspect: “Firstly it is important to note that conducting yourself as such serves to detract [from] the investigative process. The photo that is being displayed looks entirely different from the person who is in custody both in features and in age. The danger that this creates is that there may be just be a man in Belize City who looks like that person that you have broadcasted on social media and that person may be targeted because it was a heinous offense that was committed. So again, I would like to appeal to those members of the media whether the regulated ones or the unregulated ones or [those] persons who have taken the task onto themselves to be informers or persons who inform the public to be very ethical in your undertaking because you certainly pose lives at risk and you detract from the process of investigation. Investigation as it stands is already hard enough.”
The post 16-year-old minor charged in murder of Salma Orellana Funez appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Aaron Humes: Police are investigating a shooting incident that left a 34-year-old woman, Salma Raquel Orellana Funez, dead and two others injured. On Thursday, May 7, about 6:30 p.m., police responded to reports of a shooting at Da Buzz Lounge located at Mile 1½ on the Philip Goldson Highway. Upon arrival, they discovered the
The post 16-year-old minor charged in murder of Salma Orellana Funez appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.