Police officer killed his ex-partner and her boyfriend in Los Cerrillos, Canelones, and took his own life
A 26-year-old police officer murdered his ex-partner, councillor and teacher Florencia Rodríguez, and her current boyfriend in the town of Los Cerrillos, Canelones.
Femicide in Los Cerrillos: police officer killed his ex-partner and her boyfriend before taking his own life
A police officer from the Montevideo Police Headquarters murdered his ex-partner and her current boyfriend in the early hours of Friday in the town of Los Cerrillos, department of Canelones, 40 kilometres from Montevideo, according to infobae.com. Following the shooting, the attacker took his own life.
The 26-year-old police officer entered the dwelling through a bathroom window and fired several times with his service weapon, according to information from Telemundo newscast on Channel 12. The first victim was a 37-year-old man, the current partner of his ex-girlfriend.
After this first crime, the attacker continued until he found Florencia Rodríguez, aged 29.
"The situation suggests there was also some struggle or exchange between the ex-partner and the attacker. This culminates with her death, with several gunshots and finally the attacker's suicide," case prosecutor Irene Penza detailed at a press conference.
No previous reports, subject to permanent surveillance
The prosecutor noted that the attacker exercised monitoring activity over his ex-partner and did not accept that their relationship had ended. The separation had occurred some four or five months earlier. There were no previous reports of domestic violence nor any precautionary measures ordered by the courts.
"The attacker was in permanent contact with the victim, sending her messages, and also to family members," Penza said.
The courts will investigate the seized mobile phones to determine whether there were prior threats. Family members of the victims heard the shots during the early hours of the morning.
Who was Florencia Rodríguez
Rodríguez was a well-known figure in Los Cerrillos. She served as a councillor for the Broad Front in the Los Cerrillos Municipality and also worked as a Biology teacher.
"She was a great fellow councillor, full of life, of projects, of dreams. A hard worker, friendly, pleasant, very convinced of her projects and defender of all those things she believed were just," recalled Claudia Felipez, mayor of Los Cerrillos.
According to Felipez, Rodríguez was part of several local commissions and was always willing to collaborate. A neighbour from the neighbourhood, Yenisey Martínez, described the area as "very peaceful" and assured that "nothing ever happens" in that environment of few houses.
Condemnation from organisations and political parties
Fenapes, the secondary school teachers' union of Uruguay, expressed "pain and indignation at the femicide" and described the murder as "a new episode of sexist violence that brings mourning to the entire educational community and the Uruguayan people".
"We embrace her family, friends, students, colleagues and co-workers, as well as the entire educational community, today affected by pain and helplessness," the union added in a statement.
The Popular Participation Movement (MPP), the main political space within the Broad Front, expressed "profound pain" at the murder of a teacher and neighbour "committed to her community".
The Broad Front also issued a statement. "Her femicide at the hands of who was her partner is not an isolated incident. It is the most brutal expression of a structural violence that continues to take the lives of women in our country and that demands comprehensive, urgent and sustained responses from the State and from all of society," the political force stated.
The coalition remembered Rodríguez as a woman who "dedicated her life to collective work, to territorial commitment and to building a fairer society".
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Source: Google News UY — Crime