CITY OF PANAMA- One dead and one wounded is the result of a shooting that occurred this Friday on the grounds of a university in the southwest of Panamaafter two men opened fire on a group of studentspresumably for a settling of scores, reported the Panamanian police.
According to the first versions, two men got out of a vehicle “carrying out detonations towards a group of people,” reported Deputy Commissioner Héctor Delgado in a video on the Panamanian police’s X social network account.
The attacked students were in the regional center of the Panama universityin Santiago de Veraguas, 250 kilometers southwest of the Panamanian capital, the authority said.
Delgado added that after the shooting one of those affected was “without vital signs.” “This person against whom they attacked possibly has grudges against other criminal groups, which produces these regrettable criminal acts,” he added.
Delgado reported that a second person was injured and taken to the hospital, although his life is out of danger.
The police maintain a strict operation in the area to arrest the perpetrators of the shooting, while the prosecutor’s office began the first investigations.
The rector of the Panama universityEduardo Flores initially said “that an unknown person opened fire on a group of Agricultural Sciences students at the Veraguas Regional University Center.”
According to Flores, the students They were “in field practice” on the premises of the educational center when they were attacked.
The University of Panama sent a statement identifying the deceased student as Álvaro Leones, 27, and the injured student as Anel Terreros, who was transferred to the Chicho Fábrega Regional Hospital. Both were first-year students of Agricultural Sciences.
Classes and administrative work were suspended.
Likewise, the educational center expressed its condolences and stated that Leones “was an outstanding member of our university community, whose academic commitment and spirit of solidarity leave an indelible mark.”
The director of the regional campus, Pedro Samaniego, was in his office near the scene of the attack and said that the injured student was shot in the buttock while trying to flee and that he was now out of danger.
He indicated that the police authorities had gone to the scene to remove the body of the other student and to begin investigations.
“We don’t have any details about the person; He only entered and shot the student (deceased) and the boys ran away and then the wounded man was wounded precisely in the buttock. And then the person jumped over the fence and left,” said Samaniego, initially about a single attacker.
The grounds where the attack occurred are at the back of the university center and are generally used for practices.
For its part, the Attorney General’s Office said on its social media account that it is carrying out investigations into the homicide.
In Panama, shootings in universities, schools or other educational centers are not common. In 2023 in the Central American country, with 4.4 million inhabitants, 544 homicides were recorded (12 per 100,000 inhabitants).
Source: With information from AP/AFP
