On the afternoon of August 3, 2026, a fatal midday shooting on Vernon Street in Belize City has left a young print shop worker dead and sparked a family dispute over police investigative actions.
Nineteen-year-old Eworth Hernandez, a local print shop employee, left his home heading to work Wednesday, never to arrive at his destination or return alive. The shooting unfolded in broad daylight directly in front of Swift Hall, sending shockwaves through the neighborhood. News of the incident reached Hernandez’s family immediately, who rushed to the emergency department of Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH), where they struggled to come to terms with the sudden loss of their young relative.
Authorities have not yet released confirmed details on the underlying motive for the gunfire. Shortly after the shooting, Belizean police conducted a raid on a neighboring residential property, taking multiple young men from the home into custody for questioning. Among those detained are grandchildren of the elderly Belize City resident who has now spoken out, claiming law enforcement has targeted the wrong people.
In an on-record interview with local outlet News Five, the grandmother pushed back against police action, saying: “I would want the police to leave my grandchildren alone, because my grandchildren are not even doing what they say. They already have one for a cycle over there. All kind of things they are holding my grandchildren for. They run all the way in the room for the little boy and the little boy, one of them just wake up and one is laying on the bed. They handcuff the two of them. They took four of them, or five.”
When asked if she believed her grandchildren could be involved in the killing, she flatly denied any connection: “They say they carried them for some murder in Martins. You think your grandchildren they capable of committing such a crime? No, no, no. I nuh seh deh nuh talk deh kind of craziness, but they don’t do those things.”
According to official updates from the Belize Police Department, surveillance camera footage from the area led to the detention of one suspect connected to the shooting, while a second person of interest remains at large. Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith, Staff Officer for the department, confirmed to reporters that city-wide surveillance infrastructure was key to locating the individual already in custody.
Smith laid out a detailed timeline of the incident for reporters: “The investigation commenced today at around 1:15 p.m., when officers on patrol were alerted to shots being fired on Vernon Street in Belize City. A team of officers responded to the scene where they observed an injured Mr. Hernandez who was rushed for medical attention. However, he succumbed to the injuries he sustained.”
She further detailed the sequence of events captured by nearby cameras: “What police have been able to establish having reviewed video footage in the area is that Mr. Hernandez was travelling on Vernon Street near the intersection with Partridge Street when he stopped on the side of the road and remained on his motorcycle. Some minutes later he was approached by two male person and one produced a firearm and fired a single shot which struck Mr. Hernandez. Police were able to detain a male person who matched the description of one of the suspects and that person remains in detention as investigations continues.”
When responding directly to the grandmother’s claims that police incorrectly detained her family members during the immediate post-shooting operation, Smith defended law enforcement actions. She stated that all investigative steps taken were based on evidence gathered from city surveillance systems, and assured the public that all police operations are conducted within legal boundaries: “What I can say is that there are police cameras all over Belize City and in other parts of the country and based on what was seen on those cameras certain actions were taken. I want to assure everybody that police operation will be done within the confines of the law as investigation continues.”
As of Wednesday evening, investigators have not yet confirmed why Hernandez was in the Vernon Street area at the time of the shooting, and the probe remains ongoing with no established motive. This report is a transcript of a televised evening newscast, with Kriol-language quotations transcribed using standard spelling conventions.