A prosecutor was shot dead yesterday by gunmen in the South American country of Ecuador. Prosecutor Leonardo Palacios died “after an attack perpetrated against him today” in the city of Duran, near Guayaquil, the Attorney General’s Office announced on Twitter.
Palacios was shot while driving after attending a hearing on the murder trial, the agency’s office announced. A secretary of the prosecutor’s office was also in the car but was unharmed, Jorge Hadathy, Duran’s police chief, told reporters.
Authorities collected more than “40 pieces of ballistic evidence” at the scene. Palacios was killed on the same day Attorney General Diana Salazar received death threats in a video sent on WhatsApp and broadcast by local media.
The video showed at least six people armed with guns, dressed in black and wearing masks to hide their faces.
“Your birthday is coming up, I don’t want to ruin your party by killing your daughter,” said the voice of one man in the video.
As the gunmen point their rifles at the ground, the individuals in the video threaten to “send Salazar to hell to celebrate.”
Salazar is known for accusing Ecuador’s former President Rafael Correa of corruption. The Interior Ministry ordered the reinforcement of the attorney general’s security staff in response to the threats.
Ecuador is facing increased criminal violence and drug trafficking, with a murder rate of 25 per 100,000 inhabitants.
In April, President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency over Guayaquil, the neighboring districts of Duran and Samborondon, and the provinces of Santa Elena and Los Rios.
Lasso had imposed a similar temporary state of emergency three times last year for Guayaquil, where there has been a sharp increase in murders linked to organized crime.
In the first three months of this year, 555 homicides were reported in Guayaquil, Duran, and Samborondon alone.
Last year, two prosecutors and a judge were shot dead in different parts of the country.
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