Panamanian soccer player Gilberto Hernández was shot in cold blood by an assailant in the city of Colón on Sunday. The perpetrator attacked a group of people who had gathered in a house in the Barrio Norte district, killing 26-year-old Hernández and injuring seven others, he writes BBC.
It is not yet clear whether the target of the shooting was a footballer who also played for Club Atlético Independiente, or what the motive was. The two gunmen allegedly forced a taxi driver to take them to the building and then opened fire on the group gathered there. The men fled the scene, but the suspect was later arrested at a nearby apartment.
In a statement on Monday, the police confirmed “the arrest of a citizen suspected of the murder of a soccer player that occurred on Sunday … in the province of Colón,” the agency writes Reuters.
Colón has seen a spike in murders in recent months as two rival gangs battle for control of lucrative drug-trafficking routes. In Colón, a city of just 40,000 inhabitants, more than 50 people have been violently murdered this year. This port city, which lies at the northern mouth of the Panama Canal, is a transit point for cocaine smuggled from South America through Panama to Europe.
#Last minute | The PN and the Public Prosecutor’s Office carry out search proceedings in the township of Cristóbal, resulting in the apprehension of (a) “Chekiro”, presumed suspect in the homicide of an athlete that occurred on September 3, at Calle 5 and Avenida Herrera, in Colón pic.twitter.com/EkR3C0n2Ts
– National Police (@ProtegeryServir) September 4, 2023
Gilberto Hernández made his debut in the Panamanian national team as a defender in March this year in a match against Guatemala. The player’s father appealed to the youth of Colón “to stop the violence” and called on the authorities to “launch projects to protect the youth from this violence”. He also called on the killers to come forward: “Do no more harm!”, he said.
The Panamanian Football Federation, the league, as well as Hernández’s club, expressed their condolences to his family.
“The Panamanian Football League regrets the sad loss of Gilberto Hernández, a player of Club Atlético Independiente, in a violent act in the city of Colón, which also left several injured,” the league said in a statement.
2023-09-04 19:02:07
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