A new massacre has shaken Barranquilla.
Five people were killed and 14 were injured after a shooting in the middle of a party in the Villanueva sector, in the La Loma neighborhood, in the historic center of the capital of the Atlantic.
The violent event happened around 11 pm on Sunday, according to local media reports.
This is the second mass murder in the city so far this year.
In the first, which occurred on January 29, four people were murdered inside a commercial premises.
The Metropolitan Police of Barranquilla has offered a reward of 50 million pesos for any information that helps to find and capture those responsible for the massacre.
General Jorge Urquijo, commander of the unit, assured that a specialized group from the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation and the National Police has traveled to the capital of the Atlantic to support the investigations.
Massacre on La Loma!
Neighbors of the sector in the Villanueva neighborhood denounce that motorcycle hitmen not only murdered the 5 people and left 17 wounded.
Others were taken away as kidnapped.
What is behind this new massacre?
@PoliciaColombia.
@AtlanticoEmi
– Jorge Cura Amar (@ jorgegura1070) March 20, 2023
Several partygoers have reported on social networks that men dressed in black arrived on four motorcycles at the celebration and began shooting indiscriminately at the attendees.
Videos on Twitter show the bloody bodies of some of the victims.
According to the newspaper El Heraldo, the deceased are Moisés Rafael Pacheco De La Cruz, Albeiro Enrique Guerrero, Georgina Ortiz Berrío, Dailes Mar Coronel Álvarez and Ludy Del Carmen Londoño Muñoz.
The injured, transferred to the local hospital, were identified as Miguel Ángel Castillo Brandford, Brandon Steven Gómez Vergara, Heliodoro Oliveros Rodríguez, John Jaime Polo Perea, Fernando Antonio Rocha Aconcha, Walberto Romero Arriguez, Yudis Patricia Barón Rivera, Zuleimy María Arroyo Durán , Daniel De Jesús Beleño Romero, Jenyfer Paola Cervantes González, Diana Patricia Coronado Villanueva, Juan Carlos Suárez Arriguez, Wilson Montes Genes and Clara Navarro Aconcha.
The first hypotheses, according to Caracol Radio, suggest that the act would be a "retaliation between criminal organizations for operations carried out by the authorities, such as the recent seizure of 400 kilos of cocaine and more than 40 firearms in the Chiquinquirá neighborhood."
The journalist from Barranquilla Tatiana Velázquez, director of the Contratopedia portal, wrote on her Twitter account: "The word massacre became everyday in Barranquilla and its metropolitan area... from that refrain with which we grew up and that said 'nothing happens here, violence we see it from afar' only the myth remains”.
Security analyst Luis Fernando Trejos Rosero has also referred to the seriousness of the crime.
“The fact that in Barranquilla and its Metropolitan Area the massacres are not a topic of political, social or media discussion is striking.
Apparently, this type of event has become naturalized in this territory, ”he wrote on Twitter.
And he added: “something that may have encouraged the use of this type of violent modality is the belief on the part of criminal groups that the authorities are always two steps behind them, since they do not anticipate the occurrence of the violent act and are not effective in their punishment.
The fact that in Barranquilla and its Metropolitan Area the massacres are not a topic of political, social or media discussion is striking.
Apparently, this type of event has become naturalized in this territory.
👇🏽
— Luis Fernando Trejos Rosero (@TrejosRosero) March 20, 2023
Trejos explains that a massacre is understood when three or more people are killed in the same event (same place and time) and by the same alleged perpetrator.
“It is imperative to generate local security governance processes, including communities, unions and academia in decision-making”, he concluded.
For now, neither the mayor of Barranquilla, Jaime Pumarejo, nor the governor of Atlántico, Elsa Noguera, have condemned the massacre.
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