As the level of crime in the South American nation continues to rise, the mayor of a seaside town in Ecuador was slain.
According to regional police chief Edwin Noguera, a shooter opened fire on Intriago after exiting a stolen truck, striking both of them as well as a lady who was called a “collateral victim.” Both passed away from their wounds.
The vehicle’s driver was hit by retaliatory fire from the mayor’s security personnel and is currently being held in police custody while undergoing medical care in a hospital. The man, according to Noguera, was a Venezuelan national with no past convictions.
Noguera claimed that the alleged shooter got away.
Police reported that a rifle that was probably used in the attack and a grenade were discovered in the truck.
Although police claimed that the mayor had informed them of threats without going into further detail, it was not immediately evident why he had been attacked.
As violent skirmishes, including multiple prison riots, broke out on Sunday, Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso issued a state of emergency for three coastal regions near Manta on Monday.
A spike in violent crime in Ecuador, including a rise in gang violence, has had an impact on Manta, a city of more than 200,000 people known for its tuna fishing and tourism industries.
According to a weekend article by Fox News Digital, inhabitants of Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, have resorted to walling off their districts to protect themselves from the city’s endemic crime.
In the first three months of 2023, Guayaquil saw an average of seven fatalities per day, which is twice as many as during the same period in 2012. According to the police, violence increased after the pandemic and when drug gang wars broke out in the streets.
To protect the more than 600 inhabitants and families who live in the Nueva Kennedy neighborhood of Guayaquil, locals constructed 17 gates around the neighborhood’s perimeter last month.
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