A brazen, pre-planned ambush shooting in the quiet northern municipality of Corozal Town has sent shockwaves through the local community, leaving a well-loved local DJ dead and a second fighting for his life in critical condition. The May 26, 2026 attack, which unfolded around 7:40 p.m. in the Halls Layout neighborhood, claimed the life of 38-year-old Roger Escalante, a popular DJ from nearby Consejo Village who also worked part-time in construction. His colleague, fellow DJ Ezer Alcoser, survived the gunfire but remains in intensive care with life-threatening injuries as of Wednesday evening.
According to official police accounts and on-site reporting from News Five correspondent Shane Williams, the two men had arrived at the Alcocer family residence on Flamboyant Street to pick up steel and other building materials for an upcoming construction project when the attack began. Early witness statements and initial crime scene processing indicate an armed gunman exited a waiting SUV and opened fire on the pair before following Escalante inside the property to deliver fatal shots. Visible bullet holes still mark a metal fence at the scene, a stark reminder of the intensity of the violence that unfolded in a residential neighborhood.
In an official press briefing, Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith told reporters that while investigators have not yet confirmed whether Escalante and Alcoser were the specific intended targets of the attack, early lines of inquiry point to drug-related activity as a likely motive. “Mr. Escalante was previously identified as a person of interest in an ongoing drug investigation, and we are currently working on the assumption that this connection may have prompted the shooting,” Smith stated, adding that no suspects have been taken into custody as of Wednesday night and law enforcement teams are racing to process forensic evidence and interview witnesses to identify the gunman and any accomplices.
For Escalante’s family in Consejo Shores, the sudden violent death has left an irreversible void. Ernesto Uh, the DJ’s grandfather, remembered him as a bright, kind young man who balanced his work in construction and DJing with a passion for fishing. Escalante, who spent years performing at casinos in the Corozal Free Zone, leaves behind a three-year-old son who will grow up without his father. “We are all deeply heartbroken by this loss,” Uh said in an interview Wednesday, as the family makes arrangements for his funeral and secures a plot at the local cemetery.
This latest killing has reignited long-simmering fears about violent crime in Corozal Town, where repeated incidents of gun violence have left residents on edge. Corozal Town Mayor Rigo Vellos issued an urgent public appeal in the wake of the shooting, calling for an end to the cycle of bloodshed that has stolen the lives of multiple young people in the region. “We have lost one promising young man, and another is fighting for his life, and I send my deepest condolences to the family of the deceased and my prayers for Ezer Alcoser and his loved ones,” Vellos said. “We have reached a point where we all need to recognize it is long past time to put down the weapons. Endless violence only hurts our community, and it serves no purpose.”
As investigators continue to piece together the details of the attack and search for the perpetrator, the Corozal community remains united in grief: one family is planning a funeral, one man clings to life in hospital, and residents across the town are once again calling for urgent action to curb the growing gun violence that has disrupted their once-peaceful municipality.