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Alvaro Ramos.
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Juan Jose Lopez.
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Lopez was tended to and airlifted to the KHMH.
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Ramos was listed as critical.
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Two men remain hospitalized after they were shot during an armed robbery on Tuesday night. The two victims have been identified as 23 year old shop attendant Juan Jose Lopez and his brother-in-law 24 year old security officer Alvaro Ramos. Both men are employees of Espinoza’s Store located on Pearl Street in the San Pablo Area of San Pedro Town.
According to family member Gladiz Ramos, the incident unfolded sometime between 9:30 and 9:45 PM on Tuesday, September 1st. At the time of the incident Lopez was inside the front portion of the building which is used as the store, and Ramos was outside near the front door. A female and a male minor were in the back section of the building. In the presence of his mother, a 10 year old boy told The Sun that he and his young female cousin were in the back section of the building when he saw two men storm through the back door of the building, each with a gun in their hand. The men described as being thin, tall and Creole descent had rags tide over their face. According to the traumatized minor, one of the men proceeded to hit him in the face after which he was slammed to the floor as the two men rush to the middle door leading to the shop.
Gladiz Ramos who saw the men run into the building stated that the two men held up Lopez and Ramos at gun point demanding money. During the hold up a struggle ensued after which several gun shots were fired. As a result, Lopez received injuries to his face while Ramos was shot in his back. “When I heard the shots, I began hollering for help,” stated Ramos. At least four shots were fired inside the store after which both culprits rushed out through the back door but not before taking an undisclosed amount of cash, proceeds of the day’s sale. According to Ramos both men made good their escape on a waiting golf cart.
The injured men were rushed to the San Pedro Poly Clinic where they were initially treated before being airlifted to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) in Belize City shortly after 11:30pm. In speaking to Doctor Javier Zuniga, he stated that Lopez condition was stable while Ramos’ condition was serious.
Following the incident, the San Pedro Police Department with support from members of the Belize Defense Force launched an intense search in the general. At press time no one has been arrested but police are following a number of leads. Anyone with information that may help police is asked to call the nearest police station. It is not the first time that Espinoza’s Store has been held up, some two years ago one of the owners of the store was injured in a similar incident.
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