Eight homicides in seven days: La Matanza experiences its worst week of recent violence
The Buenos Aires district of La Matanza ended the week with eight murders in seven days, including a 14-year-old girl and several drug-trafficking confrontations.
La Matanza records eight violent deaths in a single week
The Buenos Aires district of La Matanza closed this Sunday with eight homicides in seven days, the highest figure in its recent history, according to diarioneuquino.com.ar. "We have never seen anything like this," declared a senior official source in a conversation with Infobae, who preferred not to be identified. The number could increase: a man shot in the head in González Catán remained hospitalised in serious condition, in a case being investigated by prosecutor Adrián Arribas of the Decentralised UFI No. 2.
The tally far exceeds that of Rosario, where official sources counted nine violent deaths in two months, between July and August.
The latest crime: a police officer repels a robbery in Ciudad Evita
The eighth homicide of the week occurred on Sunday morning in Ciudad Evita and fell under the jurisdiction of prosecutor Diego Rulli of the local Homicides UFI. The victim was a 33-year-old officer of the City Police, targeted by a motorcycle robbery on Camino de Cintura, at the height of the Mendeville bridge.
Two suspects approached her whilst she was riding her Yamaha motorcycle and took the ignition keys. The officer identified herself and opened fire with her regulation Beretta. One of the robbers, identified as Franco Alegre, 23 years old, died with the keys in his hand. The prosecutor's office has already located the telephone number of the deceased's mother.
Saturday: shooting at police station and crime in Virrey del Pino
On Saturday, two violent deaths were recorded that overwhelmed the operational capacity of the local Homicides UFI. In an episode still unclear, two suspects opened fire on the staff of the Ciudad Evita Police Station: one of the aggressors survived; the other died after being admitted to Ballestrini Hospital.
The second incident on Saturday took place in Virrey del Pino, an area identified as the most problematic of the week. Ángel Bueno, 26 years old, was found dead from a shot to the skull at the intersection of streets 7 and Amado Nervo. The case, investigated by the South Police Station 3° of the Bonaerense, points to a neighbourhood brawl.
Friday: death in a car wash and a neighbourhood revenge
On Friday, Juan Manuel Oviedo, 36 years old, died from a gunshot to the head when two gunmen opened fire on a car wash at the intersection of Zaraza and Donizetti, in Villa Dorrego. The same neighbourhood where, at another time, a girl named Candela Urquiza, 14 years old, was murdered in crossfire between two drug gangs in a case involving suspicions of police cover-up.
There was a survivor of the attack on the car wash, who gave a statement to prosecutor Rulli. According to sources in the case, the man had previously suffered the theft of a bicycle at that establishment and went to claim it in a nearby neighbourhood. The reprisal was not long in coming.
Thursday: federal sergeant repels a robbery; the thief dies shot
On Thursday afternoon, two criminals aboard a blue Volkswagen Polo intercepted a Federal Police sergeant to steal his vehicle. The uniformed officer identified himself and fired; one of the robbers was seriously wounded in the head. The moment was captured by a security camera, which recorded the wounded man on the car bonnet as they escaped.
Minutes later, the Bonaerense Police received an alert from the Rapid Care Unit No. 18, about Route No. 3: a taxi driver had transported the wounded criminal after being surrounded by five men who loaded the shooting victim into his car. The doctors were unable to save his life. The deceased was identified as Thiago Sebastián Pereyra, originally from Guernica. He was 18 years old.
Break-ins, drug trafficking and motorcycle robberies: a district at the limit
Among break-ins, motorcycle robberies and armed confrontations for control of drug trafficking, La Matanza consolidates its position as the most violent zone in the country according to official figures. The three prosecutors of the local Homicides UFI operate, according to sources, beyond their capacity. The eighth potential case—the wounded man from González Catán—could raise that record even further before the weekend concludes.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires