A devastating act of violence has shaken two small communities in Belize District, leaving a 15-year-old student dead and an 18-year-old vocational graduate clinging to life after a shooting at a family gathering on Sunday. The incident, which unfolded at a barbecue in Gardenia Village, has prompted Belizean police to charge 34-year-old Dean Emerson Vaccaro of nearby Sand Hill Village with the murder of 15-year-old Rakeem Armstrong, a second-form student at Ladyville Technical High School.
Preliminary law enforcement inquiries point to a disagreement over a motorcycle as the root of the conflict that escalated into gunfire. However, investigators have not yet publicly confirmed whether the two-wheeler was reported stolen, nor released additional granular details about the disagreement that led to the shooting. The second victim, 18-year-old Justin Young, a recent graduate of the IT vocational program at AC Level Two, remains in critical condition at Belize’s main public medical facility, Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.
In a harrowing phone interview with local outlet News Five on Tuesday, Young’s mother Kayla Young shared the grim reality of her son’s prognosis. “He’s on a life support machine in a coma because the whole gallbladder and the bowel was ripped up,” she explained. “They tell me that it is a slim chance and they’re not promising me nothing.” Young was scheduled to begin a new job training program just one day after the shooting, a future now hanging in the balance.
News of the shooting has spread rapidly across Belizean social media, sparking fierce public debate and a range of reactions from community members. Many expressed outrage and grief over the death of Armstrong, with one local resident who knew the teen writing, “Rakeem was an innocent bystander that they mix up in a stolen bike… If this man thought these boys stole his bike, then take it up with the parents… now a sweet young boy is gone that had his future ahead of him… I watched him grow up. He goes to church every Sunday.”
Other social media users questioned why Vaccaro did not involve law enforcement from the start, asking, “If the cycle was indeed stolen from him and he knew the people, why not call the police?” Still, a small number of commenters defended Vaccaro’s initial frustration, arguing that persistent theft in communities demands a hard line. “It’s not about material stuff. It’s about the hard work you put in to get your things. People feel sorry for these little thieves, but they are the same ones that are gonna grow up to be murderers,” one commenter wrote.
As the investigation continues, local outlet News Five will air full updates on police’s latest findings during its 6 p.m. News 5 Live broadcast, bringing new details to audiences as they become available.