Bogota, Aug 11 (IANS) Colombian senator and presidential hopeful, Miguel Uribe Turbay, died on Monday, more than two months after he was shot during a political rally in Bogota.
39-year-old Turbay was shot during a political rally in El Golfito Park in Bogota’s Fontibon on June 7 and was immediately taken to a nearby medical centre. Due to severe injuries, he was shifted to the Santa Fe Foundation for surgery and remained hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Colombia-based El Espectador reported.
The senator was shot three times – once in his left leg at the knee and twice at the hit. He was undergoing treatment for his injuries at the Santa Fe Foundation, but an intracranial hemorrhage worsened his condition this weekend.
The bodyguards of Turbay have captured the alleged hitman who is a 15-year-old boy. The attacker reportedly used a nine-millimeter Glock pistol and fired eight shots, three of which seriously wounded the presidential candidate. The captured young man was undergoing treatment at a medical centre in Bogota as he was also injured in the chase which ended in his arrest.
A judge has already legalised hitman’s arrest and the Prosecutor’s Office charged him with illegal possession of weapons and attempted murder, which he denied, El Espectador reported. The suspect was taken to the bunker where he will serve the prison sentence announced by the judge.
Investigators in the case have carried out approximately 30 interviews and analysed hundreds of hours of surveillance video to clarify the events. So far, they have shared no clues as to who hired the attacker or who was mastermind behind the attack.
Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay was born in Bogoto on January 28, 1986, into a family with strong ties to politics. He studied in Los Nogales High School and later studied law at the University of the Andes. He also secured a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the same institution.
At the age of 25, Turbay was elected by the Liberal Party as a Bogota Councillor in 2012, which was the start of his career in Colombian politics. In 2015, former Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa invited him to join his administration, and he was sworn in as Secretary of Government. In 2018, he resigned to run for Mayor of Bogota, however, he did not win.
In 2021, the Democratic Center party announced that Miguel Uribe Turbay would lead on its Senate ticket. During the elections in 2022, he was elected Colombia’s senator with 223,167 votes. He married Maria Claudia Tarazona in 2016 and the couple share one son.
–IANS
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