By Belize Live News Staff: Twenty-one shots. One bullet hole in the tailgate. And an 11-year-old boy riding in the back of the truck who somehow walked away without a scratch. Santa Elena is counting its blessings after a shocking evening shooting at the Hawksworth Bridge.
The Belize Police Department reports that at about 6:15 p.m. on Monday, July 13, 2026, gunfire erupted at the bridge exit entering Santa Elena. Police who rushed to the scene found the sidewalk at the bridge walkway littered with 21 expended shells of mixed calibers, evidence of a sustained and reckless volley in one of the busiest crossings in the twin towns.
The target, police learned, was a 41-year-old woman of Santa Elena Town, whose white Ford Ranger took a bullet to the tailgate, suffered a flattened rear tire, and was dented on the passenger side. A slug was later recovered from inside the truck pan, the very pan where her young son had been riding when the shooting began. Mercifully, the boy was unhurt, and no injuries were reported.
The backstory police are piecing together adds a dark dimension. Earlier that evening, the woman had been near the San Ignacio Police Station in connection with dropping off food for a person detained there as part of a murder investigation. Moments after crossing the Hawksworth Bridge into Santa Elena, the bullets came. Camera footage shows two men on a black motorcycle carrying out the attack, and investigators believe the shooting may be retaliation tied to that recent murder.
A 37-year-old labourer of Santa Elena has been detained, and a second man is being sought. As no one has yet been charged, their names are being withheld.
For the people of San Ignacio and Santa Elena, a shooting of this scale at the foot of the historic Hawksworth Bridge, at an hour when families are heading home, is a jarring escalation. That a child in the open bed of a truck came through 21 rounds untouched is the kind of fortune no community should have to lean on.
The investigation continues, and anyone with information is encouraged to reach the San Ignacio police or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 922.
