Dutch woman killed in Belize shooting; Two other Dutch injured
A 43-year-old woman died in a shooting at a market in Belize. A girl was also killed in the shooting, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes she had another nationality. Two Dutch got hurt, RTL Nieuws reports.
A gunman shot and killed the woman at a market in Belmopan, the capital of the Central American country, on Tuesday afternoon, local time. He then opened fire on those around her, including two children. According to witnesses, they were eating ice cream together when the man attacked. A witness told a local radio station, Love FM, that the man was clearly out to kill them. The kids didn’t get caught in the crossfire. He targeted them, the witness said.
A police spokesperson told Love FM that the gunman approached the victims, who were seated together at a table, and appeared to speak to them before he opened fire on them. The police officer said that the girl who died was 11 years old. A 7-year-old boy was injured and is still in the hospital. He said that the woman who died was “seemingly the mother of the two children.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told RTL that the 43-year-old woman is the only Dutch fatality it is aware of, so the girl who died likely had a different nationality. The Dutch woman lived abroad, the Ministry said. The Ministry did not reveal how old the two injured Dutch people were or whether they were related to the woman who died.
The police arrested the shooter and confiscated a firearm from him. According to the police officer, he appears to be Haitian-American. PlusTV Belize had “unconfirmed but reliable” reports that the victims were staying in an Airbnb owned by the gunman.
