A Presidential candidate in Ecuador, Fernando Villavicencio has been shot and killed following a campaign rally in the capital Quito, while a suspect in the killing later died from injuries sustained during a shootout that led to his capture, the country’s president and other authorities have revealed.
On Wednesday, Lasso confirmed Villavicencio’s death and warned that the crime would not go unpunished.
‘Outraged and shocked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. My solidarity and condolences to his wife and daughters,’ Lasso said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
‘For his memory and his fight, I assure you that this crime will not remain unpunished,’ Lasso said. ‘Organised crime has gone very far, but all the weight of the law will fall on them,’ he said.
Lasso said he would host top security officials at an urgent meeting.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Villavicencio, 59, a former legislator, was shot dead after a campaign event in Quito.
The country’s main newspaper, El Universo, reported that the candidate was assassinated “hitman-style and with three shots to the head”.
Videos posted on social media which was obtained by Africa Today News, New York appear to show the candidate walking out of the event surrounded by guards. The video then shows Villavicencio entering a white truck followed by gunfire.
Pictures and video footage from the rally show chaotic scenes as people dived for cover on the floor of a building after the shots were fired.
Ecuador’s attorney general’s office said later that a suspect in the killing of Villavicencio had died of injuries sustained during capture.
‘A suspect, who was injured during the shootout with security personnel, was apprehended and moved, badly injured, to the (attorney general’s) unit in Quito. An ambulance from the fire department confirmed his death, the police are proceeding with collection of the cadaver,’ the attorney general’s office said on social media.
Several others injured in the gun attack were transferred to local hospitals, according to media reports.
Patricio Zuquilanda, Villavicencio’s campaign adviser, told the Associated Press after the shooting that Villavicencio had received death threats, which he had reported to authorities.
Zuquilanda called on international authorities to take action against the violence, attributing it to rising violence and drug trafficking in the country.