Chile Mourns Police Officer Shot Dead by Man Freed After Bribery Arrest
CHILE · SECURITY
Key Facts
- —The country Chile, whose national uniformed police force is called Carabineros. The shooting happened in Lo Espejo, a district on the southern side of Santiago.
- —Why it matters Crime is the central issue of President José Antonio Kast’s government, and the killing has become a test of his tougher line.
- —What happened On Sunday 27 September a gunman shot Corporal Cristopher Aguilera, 30, in the head during a patrol. He died at 21:48; a colleague shot the attacker dead.
- —Who is involved Prosecutors say the attacker was a Venezuelan with earlier arrests for carrying a blade and for bribery. He was free despite an arrest in April.
- —What it means for you Three days of national mourning run from 28 to 30 September. Kast wants Congress to speed up bills on detaining and expelling foreigners with criminal records.
- —Still open Why the attacker was at liberty, where his gun came from, and the exact sequence of the shooting.
A Chile police officer has died after being shot in the head during a routine patrol in southern Santiago. The government declared three days of national mourning on Monday.
Corporal Cristopher Andrés Aguilera Fernández, 30, was the father of a nine-month-old baby, Cooperativa reported. The man who shot him had been arrested for trying to bribe police five months earlier, according to prosecutors quoted by ADN Radio and CNN Chile.
How the shooting unfolded
Aguilera served with the 42nd Radio Patrol Station of Carabineros. On Sunday afternoon he and a colleague were carrying out checks in the Las Dunas area of Lo Espejo.
According to Juan Cheuquiante, a senior prosecutor in the South Santiago prosecutor’s office, a man saw the officers, drew a gun and opened fire. La Tercera quoted him saying the second officer took cover behind a wall, returned fire and killed the attacker.
Aguilera was flown by police helicopter to Clínica Las Condes, a private hospital in eastern Santiago. He died there at 21:48, the hospital’s head of critical care told reporters, as La Tercera and Cooperativa reported.
Investigators collected about 30 pieces of ballistic evidence, La Tercera reported. The prosecutor said the pistol had an extended magazine.
An attacker already known to police
Cheuquiante told ADN Radio that the attacker was Venezuelan and had earlier arrests for carrying a bladed weapon and for bribery. Meganoticias and La Tercera reported that he was in Chile irregularly.
His last arrest came on 13 April at an illegal party in Pirque, south of Santiago, Cooperativa and CNN Chile reported. CNN Chile said he allegedly offered officers 100,000 pesos (about US$104) to avoid arrest. Cooperativa reported that a court later released him.
Government response
Kast decreed national mourning for 28, 29 and 30 September, CNN Chile reported. He urged all parties to back faster action against organised crime, warning that “the hand has changed.”
The killing of a Chile police officer comes days after the government joined a US-led crime coalition. Official figures had shown homicides falling this year.
Lo Espejo’s mayor, Javiera Reyes, wrote that “weapons, drug trafficking and violence cannot keep taking lives,” La Tercera reported. She called for deep and urgent intervention.
What Is Not Yet Known
Prosecutors have not explained why the attacker was free after the April arrest. Cooperativa reported that the prosecutor’s office is still gathering that information.
The origin of the gun and the exact order of the shots await forensic tests. Early reports said police were checking a group of about seven people, but prosecutors say the gunman acted alone.
Sources: Cooperativa; La Tercera; ADN Radio; CNN Chile; CNN Chile (mourning decree); Meganoticias.
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