Young man shot dead in park in south Guayaquil; families fear for their safety
A young man was shot dead in a park in the Los Claveles neighbourhood, south Guayaquil, on Friday morning. Residents report the advance of violence into their everyday spaces.
Young man shot and killed in Los Claveles park as neighbours began their day
A young man was shot dead inside a park in the Los Claveles neighbourhood, in south Guayaquil, shortly after 07:00 on Friday 18 September, according to expreso.ec. The attack occurred as neighbours were beginning their usual activities, leaving residents alarmed about the safety of their families.
"There is no more tolerance for so much violence. You cannot trust anyone anymore and living like this is terrible," said Carmen Duarte, a resident of the sector who witnessed the police operation at the scene.
Prior fight and possible attempted robbery
According to versions gathered among residents of the neighbourhood, minutes before the crime there was allegedly a fight at a corner near the park. A neighbour recounted that they apparently tried to rob someone and the young man had intervened to defend them.
"There was a fight at the corner, it seems they tried to rob someone and he wanted to save them," the resident said.
According to one of the initial hypotheses, another person allegedly linked to the supposed robbery followed the victim into the interior of the park and shot at them. This version, however, still must be verified by the authorities.
Investigation under way
The National Police and Dinased cordoned off the park to collect ballistic evidence and begin investigations to establish the motive for the crime and reconstruct the events prior to the attack. Once the proceedings were concluded, the space was reopened to the public.
For residents of Los Claveles, however, the return to normal operation of the park does not erase the unease left by the incident. Several neighbours indicated that they do not plan to frequent the place for at least the next few days.
"We are normalising violence"
The young man's death reopened debate among residents about the frequency with which violent incidents are recorded in the area. Delia Cajamarca, a resident of the sector, expressed her exasperation at what she described as a normalisation of crime in the neighbourhood.
"Here we have become accustomed to murders being recorded daily, they collect the victim, bury them and everything returns to normal. That must not continue to happen. We are normalising violence. We are living among pain, fear and blood. We are losing the few public spaces we have," Cajamarca said.
Residents of Los Claveles agree that violence is drawing ever closer to their homes and everyday-use spaces, turning a park intended for recreation into the scene of a murder in broad daylight.
Source: Google News EC — Guayaquil