Presidential candidate’s surgery successful after campaign event shooting
Colombian presidential candidate successfully underwent surgery after being shot during a campaign event in Bogotá, the city’s mayor announced on Sunday.
Thirty-nine-year-old Senator Miguel Uribe was speaking to supporters in the capital when a gunman shot him twice in the head and once in the knee before being detained.
A security guard managed to detain the suspected attacker, a minor who is believed to be 15 years old.
Uribe was airlifted to hospital in “critical condition” and underwent a “neurosurgical” and “peripheral vascular procedure,” the Santa Fe Clinic in Bogota confirmed.
He “overcame the first surgical procedure,” Bogota mayor Carlos Fernando Galan told media, adding that he had entered “the critical hours” of recovery.
His wife, in an audio recording shared with media, said “he came out well from the surgery.”
“He fought the first battle and fought it well. He is fighting for his life,” she is heard saying.
READ ALSO: Presidential candidate shot in head during campaign event
Images from the scene of the shooting showed Uribe slumped against the hood of a white car, smeared with blood, as a group of men tried to hold him and stop the bleeding.
The suspect was injured in the affray and was receiving treatment, said police director Carlos Fernando Triana.
Two others — a man and a woman — were also wounded, and a Glock-style firearm was seized.
“Our hearts are broken, Colombia hurts,” Carolina Gomez, a 41-year-old businesswoman, told AFP as she prayed with candles for Uribe’s health.
– ‘Day of pain’ –
The motive for the attack is not yet publicly known. Colombia’s defense minister Pedro Sanchez vowed to use law enforcement’s full capabilities and offered a roughly US$725,000 reward for information about who was behind the shooting.
In a video address to the nation posted on social media, President Gustavo Petro also promised investigations to find the perpetrators of the “day of pain”.
“What matters most today is that all Colombians focus with the energy of our hearts, with our will to live … on ensuring that Dr Miguel Uribe stays alive.”
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