By Belize Live News Staff: A Sunday night in Orange Walk Town took a strange turn when police responding to reports of an armed man found him not only carrying a loaded pistol, but bleeding from what appeared to be a gunshot wound of his own.
Officers on patrol got the call around 11:00 p.m.: a man with a firearm and bloodstained clothes on Guadalupe Street. They found him limping toward San Antonio Road, blood on his face, shirt and pants, with a wound and a cut on the right side of his forehead.
The search that followed produced a 9mm pistol loaded with nine rounds, plus a spare magazine with three more in his cross-body bag. Asked about a license, the man said yes, and produced a valid one. What he could not produce was a sober breath. Officers report a strong smell of alcohol, and in Belize, carrying a firearm while under the influence is a crime regardless of the paperwork.
The man was identified as Carlos Alfredo Castellanos, 38, according to initial police reports, a contractor from Yo Creek Village. How did he get hurt? Police say their initial investigation points to a struggle earlier that night with other men at a gas station parking lot on the Belize Corozal Road, during which Castellanos allegedly fired a shot by accident and wounded himself.
He was treated at the Northern Regional Hospital, where he voluntarily provided a urine sample that was sealed as evidence. After his discharge, police formally arrested and charged him on Tuesday with possession of a firearm while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He was cautioned and remained silent.
The case is a costly reminder for every licensed gun holder in the country: the license covers the firearm, not the rum.
