Spring Break
Grad students, faculty return safely after Guatemalan attack
Kellyn Moran
Issue date: 7/9/08 Section: Front Page
Two Miami University professors and three graduate students are safe and back in Oxford after being ambushed by gunmen in Guatemala.
On the morning of June 23, the group was five miles from the Belize border when two men wielding rifles stepped out of the underbush 10 feet in front of the van. The driver sped up, but two bullets were fired and hit the vehicle.
One bullet went through the driver's side window and exited out the passenger's side window after grazing the mouth of Mark Boardman, director of the Institute of Environmental Sciences.
The other bullet went through the window by the third bench seat. According to the incident report, graduate student Anne Wick ducked in time and the bullet went over her head. However, the bullet ricocheted off the inside of the van and struck the owner's daughter's hand and stomach.
Boardman said he was glad the owner and her son, who was driving the van, had a quick response time. He said he believed the men intended to kill the driver and any passengers they could and then rob them.
Boardman said he is extremely grateful to the owner of the van, a Guatemalan woman who accompanied the group with her daughter and son.
In the incident report, Boardman wrote,
"Although (the) choice (to use local transportation) may have cost more money, it proved to be a life-saving one."
He said the woman took great care of the group when her own daughter, who was pregnant, had to be treated in the hospital for gunshot wounds.
"She had the great presence of mind to get us out of there," Boardman said. "She just got shot at, her daughter's in the hospital, and she's helping us."
He said she found the police to file a report, located another van and explained the situation to the driver.
The group was able to stop at a hospital in Belize to get treatment and make it to the airport on time. Boardman said only one flight per day leaves the airport.
Injuries resulting from the incident were minor. Boardman got stitches and medication, which his personal physician identified as appropriate upon his return.
On the morning of June 23, the group was five miles from the Belize border when two men wielding rifles stepped out of the underbush 10 feet in front of the van. The driver sped up, but two bullets were fired and hit the vehicle.
One bullet went through the driver's side window and exited out the passenger's side window after grazing the mouth of Mark Boardman, director of the Institute of Environmental Sciences.
The other bullet went through the window by the third bench seat. According to the incident report, graduate student Anne Wick ducked in time and the bullet went over her head. However, the bullet ricocheted off the inside of the van and struck the owner's daughter's hand and stomach.
Boardman said he was glad the owner and her son, who was driving the van, had a quick response time. He said he believed the men intended to kill the driver and any passengers they could and then rob them.
Boardman said he is extremely grateful to the owner of the van, a Guatemalan woman who accompanied the group with her daughter and son.
In the incident report, Boardman wrote,
"Although (the) choice (to use local transportation) may have cost more money, it proved to be a life-saving one."
He said the woman took great care of the group when her own daughter, who was pregnant, had to be treated in the hospital for gunshot wounds.
"She had the great presence of mind to get us out of there," Boardman said. "She just got shot at, her daughter's in the hospital, and she's helping us."
He said she found the police to file a report, located another van and explained the situation to the driver.
The group was able to stop at a hospital in Belize to get treatment and make it to the airport on time. Boardman said only one flight per day leaves the airport.
Injuries resulting from the incident were minor. Boardman got stitches and medication, which his personal physician identified as appropriate upon his return.
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