Police record Keith Logan as the first murder victim for 2026

Just as Belize has recorded the first birth, Police have confirmed the first homicide for the new year.  Although the shooting occurred on New Years Eve, with 39-year-old Keith Logan dying on January 1, this is being registered as the first murder for the year.  Logan was one of several victims injured in a mass shooting in Mango Creek Village / Independence Village, Stann Creek District.  The shooting unfolded across from the Michael Ashcroft Stadium, where police recovered as many as sixteen expended shell casings at the scene. The incident left seven people shot, prompting the immediate cancellation of New Year’s celebrations in the village.  ASP Stacy Smith briefed the media on the preliminary findings.

Stacy Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Police: “They were guided to the scene of that incident by the 911 operator, which was learned to be at a Chinese restaurant opposite the Michael Ashcroft Stadium in Independence. The response of police in this incident, including mobilizing operational and investigative teams with the objective of ferrying the injured persons to the hospital while simultaneously securing the scene and launching intelligence driven operation with a view to apprehending the suspect. What the investigators have gathered so far in this ongoing investigation is that the culprit arrived on a motorcycle and fired several shots at a person whom we believe to have been the intended target. When that target ran off, the male person continued firing shots at him, which resulted in the injury of the other persons in that area. This shooting resulted in the injury of six persons as stated, namely Carol Cade, Marion Logan, Marlon Logan, Robert Broccoli, Romelle Milton, and Rupert Jones. And the shooting injury of Mr. Keith Logan, who subsequently succumbed to the injuries that he sustained at around 10 o’clock AM on 1st January, 2026. Police have secured several pieces of items that are of evidential value and are seeking two persons in relation to this ongoing investigation. The department takes this opportunity to remind the general public that it is an offense to harbor or conceal wanted persons.”

Multiple reports indicate that drug trafficking is becoming rampant in rural parts of the Stann Creek District.  It is a report that ASP Smith was not willing to confirm or deny if this was the motive behind the mass shootings.

Stacy Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Police: “As I said what we do know is that one person was the intended target in this situation and it was when he was fleeing that other persons were injured. What I will say is it is an ongoing investigation and I will urge everyone who has information to assist in this investigation to provide that information to the police. The police department will remain resolute in its fight against drugs. I know oftentimes when police officers make arrests for drug related offenses the comments that I see in the general public or in discourse of many persons is that oh it is just a drug arrest and they don’t understand that drugs are the impetus behind a lot of these incidents. So I would hope that persons are not as flippant when it comes to identifying persons who sell drugs within their community and relaying that information to police cause the sickness of the selling and the usage of drugs is something that goes very far and as I indicated on that occasion the driver as you would have mentioned appears to be drug related in that community and the department is responding and it has put several operational efforts into place and this most recent investigation progress is being made and we are of the view that an arrest will be made.”

In the aftermath of the shooting, village leaders made the decision to call off all New Year’s festivities, citing safety concerns.  Love News spoke with Chairman of Independence Cliffton Garbutt on the incident and citizen security.

Cliffton Garbutt, Chairman, Independence Village: “At this time I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family of Keith Logan and for the other victims we also pray for God’s comfort and strength and hopefully that during this time that God will be able to bless them with strength to go through this difficult time. What we do know is that a young man indiscriminately shot into a crowd of individuals who were socializing and hitting young men during that time. So of course we know that the shooting created a range of different scars on these individuals. Of course the residents felt very unsafe during this time but to say directly that this was a result of anything else I wouldn’t be able to tell you or say otherwise. In discussion with members of the police department they maintained that security is certainly paramount during this time however as a result of the shooting our residents felt very concerned, very unsafe, very uneasy for the most part and so we do understand their concerns and as a result of that, what happened we even had to cancel our own public fireworks show that would normally happen because the night simply didn’t seem that it felt right at that time. However the community at this time still feels very peaceful. It was one of the we’re still united as a community. It seemed as a very unfortunate situation that occurred and we hope that the police department would be able to resolve it very quickly so for the most part we get some kind of normalcy even though that might be difficult at this time.”

Again, those injured in the incident are 44-year-old Romel Middleton; 47-year-old Caral Charles Cabral, a well-known runman of the village; 34-year-old Marion Logan, a Big Creek Port worker; 39-year-old Keith Logan, now deceased; 53-year-old Robert Roy Buckley, a security guard; 35-year-old Marlon Logan, a barber; and 52-year-old Rupert Jones.