Gunmen ambushed the security detail of a senator, riddling a bulletproof SUV with around 400 rounds and killing two bodyguards in a brazen daylight attack.
The victims were travelling in a silver Toyota Land Cruiser Prado.
They worked for Jairo Alberto Castellanos Serrano, Senator of the Republic of Colombia for the 2022–2026 constitutional period.
They were on their way to meet the official when they were intercepted on the road between Tame and Fortul in the northern Colombian department of Arauca.
The suspects set up a roadblock and opened fire on the security detail last Thursday (5 Feb).
The video showed several men in bulletproof vests firing at the senator’s SUV before carefully approaching it.
The cameraperson repeatedly shouted in an unintelligible voice that the vehicle’s occupants were already dead.
The recording, already in the hands of the authorities, will be key to identifying those responsible.
The victims were named as bodyguards Wilmar Leal and Esmeli Manrique.
They were both fathers to young children and their wives were pregnant at the time of their deaths, as reported by Need To Know.
Senator Castellanos said: “Wilmer had been with me for 10 years.
“They both saw my children grow up and they were completely trustworthy.
“You end up sharing more with them than even your own children.
“They were like members of the family.”
Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez suggested that the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group was responsible for the attack.
No arrests have been made yet as the investigation continues.
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