Belize police: Slain Virginia doctor caught up in gang hit
Posted Jun 27, 2019 4:59 am.
ROANOKE, Va. — Belize authorities say a local guide, who was leading a Virginia doctor on a fishing trip when they were both fatally shot , might have been the target of gang hit in the country.
Authorities said they found 53-year-old Gary Swank, a cardiologist at Virginia Tech’s Carilion Clinic, and 53-year-old Mario Graniel in a lagoon near the town of San Pedro earlier this week. The Roanoke Times reports the Belize Police Departments’ commissioner, Chester Williams, told Belize media on Monday that investigators think Graniel “had a misunderstanding with one of the notorious gang figures in San Pedro.”
Williams says Graniel’s home had also been shot at last Friday. He said police were working with the U.S. embassy.
On Monday, Sen. Mark Warner said his office was monitoring the case.
The Associated Press
