Shooting between Gulf Clan and Police in Salgar, Antioquia
GOES officers engaged with a group of six to eight armed men on a road near the urban area of Salgar. The alleged Gulf Clan members fled towards the La Clara village without causing injuries to officers.
Confrontation in Salgar: Gulf Clan attacks Police and flees to rural area
A group of between six and eight armed men, alleged members of the Gulf Clan, exchanged gunfire with officers from the National Police on Tuesday 28 July in the afternoon, on a road connecting the Peñalisa sector with the urban area of Salgar, Antioquia. According to infobae.com, the events occurred near a petrol station and concluded with the men fleeing towards the La Clara village.
The GOES operation and armed contact
Units from the Special Operations Group (GOES) were conducting verification operations in the area after receiving alerts about the presence of several men travelling on motorcycles carrying long-range weapons. Upon spotting the group, police officers fired shots into the air; the men responded with gunfire before withdrawing towards the rural area of the municipality.
Colonel Luis Muñoz, commander of the Antioquia Police, confirmed the incident and noted that some of these individuals had already been detected by authorities days earlier, although on that occasion they managed to evade checkpoints.
"They spot these subjects, around 6 or 8 subjects with long weapons, and the police fire at them. Shots in the air, but they also react and nothing really happened," Colonel Muñoz told Blu Radio, as reported by infobae.com.
No injuries reported among officers
The exchange of gunfire lasted approximately five minutes. Authorities reported no injured police officers or damage to institutional vehicles. There is also, for the moment, no official report of injured persons among the attackers.
However, Caracol Radio indicated that authorities activated a verification plan in healthcare facilities in the south-western Antioquia region to establish whether any person entered with gunshot wounds related to the incident. The Police also requested that the public provide information that would help identify those responsible and facilitate their location.
Reinforcement of police presence in the municipality
As an institutional response, the Police announced the deployment of seven additional officers in Salgar, with the Army providing support in patrolling operations both in the urban area and in the rural areas near the escape point.
"The municipality of Salgar has already been reinforced with the response, which is 7 more police officers. So, an average of 10 or 11 police officers to carry out different patrols. And there will also be an additional reinforcement of some Army components to conduct those patrols," Colonel Muñoz explained.
Search and full identification operations of the men continue in the La Clara village.
Three dead in Andes, hours after the shooting
The confrontation in Salgar became known less than twelve hours after the discovery of three people murdered in the Alto Carvajal village, Santa Inés district, in the municipality of Andes, also in south-western Antioquia.
Authorities initially reported two bodies, including that of Doney Bedoya Montoya, 15 years old. A third victim in the same area was later confirmed, whose judicial verification was pending at the time of the reports.
Colonel Muñoz indicated that one line of investigation points to the victims being alleged members of the Gulf Clan, although he clarified that this hypothesis was under verification by the Army and judicial authorities.
"They would apparently be members of the Gulf Clan, including a minor of 15 years old. Verification is already under way, the Army is trying to reach the area too to verify or validate what really happened there in that area," the officer stated according to the media.
Source: Google News CO — Crime