Four people died in a shooting on Friday morning along Belize's Coastal Plain Highway, with police investigating whether the attack was connected to a killing that took place the previous day.
The dead were identified as David Usher, 16, from Freedom Street; Lloyd Leslie, 33, from Armadillo Street; Robert Gladden, 23; and Dayton Palacio, 23. Gladden and Palacio both lived on Freedom Street in Belize City.
The Major Crimes Unit received word of the incident at around 8:15 am on October 30. Officers discovered a red Ford Escape overturned between Miles 21 and 22 on the highway, bearing multiple apparent bullet wounds. Three of the victims were found unresponsive at the scene; Palacio was rushed to Southern Regional Hospital but died there from his wounds.
Assistant Superintendent Stacy Smith told the public that detectives were exploring whether Friday's attack bore any relation to the Thursday shooting death of 19-year-old Dodrick Salvador Miguel Madrill on Freedom Street.
Records show that Madrill, Gladden and Palacio had all faced firearms charges in February 2025 after police recovered an unlicensed 9mm pistol and 13 rounds of ammunition from a Freedom Street property. Madrill entered a guilty plea to owning the weapon; Gladden and Palacio both denied the charges.
Police intercepted a vehicle heading towards Belize City and detained five men for questioning. No firearms were recovered from that vehicle.
Smith noted that investigators were considering whether some violence might stem from disputes within criminal organisations rather than clashes between separate gangs. Authorities are also looking into a separate shooting on Wednesday at a Belmopan residence that wounded a 19-year-old woman, though no link to Friday's killings has been confirmed.
Detectives are reviewing security camera footage from the La Democracia junction and an adjacent intersection on the Coastal Plain Highway as they work to identify those responsible.
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