The San Pedro Police is investigating a deadly shooting that occurred late on Thursday evening, June 20th, at a house in the Secret Beach area that resulted in the death of 46-year-old Steven ‘Steve’ Francis Arceo. Police reported that when they responded to the incident, they found Arceo’s lifeless body with gunshot wounds hanging through a glass window.
An official report explains police visited an establishment around 9:45PM at the popular Secret Beach area about 4.5 miles northwest of San Pedro Town. Â There, they spoke to the property manager and then made checks inside the kitchen area of the building, where they found a male shirtless person wearing short brown pants hanging through a glass window. The body was observed with gunshot wounds and identified as Steven Francis Arceo, a local vendor from the San Mateo subdivision, who is also affectionately known as Coco Steve.
The property manager, 27-year-old Alexi Marcelo Chavarria, told police that around 8:57 PM while sleeping with his common-law wife and child, they were alerted by a noise coming from the veranda. Chavarria retrieved his license .9-millimeter pistol and stepped into the living room to investigate. According to him, the noise came from a sliding glass door. Then another noise was heard from the house’s main door, which sounded like someone was trying to open it. The report continues, saying that a loud bang was then heard coming from the kitchen area. When Chavarria reached the kitchen, he reported seeing a male person coming through the window. He said to have cautioned the individual who continued trying to get inside the house. Fearing for his life and his family, the caretaker fired six shots, killing the intruder.
Arceo’s lifeless body was later transported to the Dr. Otto Rodriguez San Pedro Polyclinic II, where he was pronounced dead at 3:03AM. A post-mortem will take place in the following days. Chavarria continues to cooperate with police as they investigate the circumstances regarding the fatal shooting.
This news has saddened the Arceo family on the island; however, they did not comment to the media.
