Firstpost published June 9, 2025: Colombia's Presidential Hopeful Shot in the Head at Rally. Vantage With Palki Sharma.
Shocking footage shows the moment Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe was shot during a campaign rally in Bogotá. The attacker, a 15-year-old, fired multiple times, striking Uribe in the head twice. Authorities quickly apprehended the gunman. The attack has shaken the nation, which has a history of political violence. What was behind this attack? With crime on the rise, is Colombia’s bloody past making a comeback?
Sky News published Jun 8, 2025: Colombia presidential hopeful shot in head at rally. WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT.
Colombian presidential candidate Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is in a "critical condition" after an attempted assassination.
I added the picture above to this news.
The Guardian, UK
written by Harriet Barber in Medellín
Monday June 9, 2025
The security detail for the Colombian presidential candidate who was shot at a campaign rally at the weekend was severely reduced on the day of the attack, the country’s president has said.
Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was shot twice in the head at close range by an alleged 15-year-old hitman while campaigning in Bogotá on Saturday. He has reportedly shown little response to medical interventions and, according to his wife, needs “a miracle” to survive.
On Monday, President Gustavo Petro called for an investigation into the sudden reduction of the security team, posting on social media: “I must now report that the protection scheme for Senator Uribe was reduced, strangely, on the day of the attack, from seven to three people.”
Uribe’s lawyer Victor Mosquera said he had filed a criminal complaint against the protection unit in charge of security for high-profile and at-risk personalities, alleging that he had made more than 20 requests for increased security this year alone.
Uribe, a 39-year-old senator from the opposition Centro Democrático party, is running to join next year’s presidential race. Footage from the attack showed him speaking to a small crowd in a park, before shots rang out. Uribe was then pictured slumped against the bonnet of a blood-stained white car.
Uribe underwent major surgery over the weekend, which was initially deemed a success, but early on Monday the hospital said he had shown “little response to the medical interventions”.
“His condition is extremely serious,” medical director Adolfo Llinás Volpe said.
His wife, María Claudia Tarazona, asked for prayers on Monday morning and said “Miguel needs a miracle”.
The 15-year-old suspect was arrested at the scene minutes after the attack, during which he reportedly shouted: “I did it for money for my family.”
Police on Monday revealed that the 9mm pistol the suspect was carrying had been purchased legally in Arizona in 2020.
The suspect was also injured during the attack and so has yet to be questioned; a security cordon has been set up around the hospital where he is undergoing treatment. He is expected to be charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of a weapon.
Uribe hails from one of Colombia’s most prominent political families; he is the grandson of former president Julio César Turbay Ayala (1978-82) and the son of journalist Diana Turbay, who was kidnapped by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel and killed during a botched rescue operation in 1991.
A Harvard graduate, former Bogotá city councillor and outspoken critic of president Gustavo Petro, Uribe last year announced his presidential bid from the spot where his mother was killed. “I could have grown up seeking revenge, but I decided to do the right thing: forgive, but never forget,” he said.
Petro condemned Saturday’s attack and said “we cannot rule out any hypothesis”. Criminal groups in Colombia have often used minors to carry out killings.
Colombia’s defence minister has offered a 3bn peso (£540,000) reward for information leading to the identification and capture of those responsible for the attack, while the government has ordered increased security for all presidential candidates.
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CBS News
written by Staff/AP
Sunday June 8, 2025
Colombian Sen. Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible right-wing candidate in the country's presidential election next year, is recovering after successfully undergoing surgery following an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Bogota.
The 39-year-old Uribe was speaking to supporters in the capital city when a gunman shot him twice in the head and once in the knee. He was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition and underwent a "neurosurgical" and "peripheral vascular procedure," the Santa Fe Clinic in Bogota told AFP.
He "overcame the first surgical procedure," Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan told local media.
Uribe's wife, in an audio recording shared with the media, said her husband "came out well from the surgery."
"He fought the first battle and fought it well. He is fighting for his life," she is heard saying.
The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing Democratic Center, which was the party of former President Álvaro Uribe. The men are not related.
The Attorney General's Office, which is investigating the shooting, said a 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene with a firearm. Two others – a man and a woman – were also wounded in the shooting.
"Our hearts are broken, Colombia hurts," Carolina Gomez, a 41-year-old businesswoman, told AFP.
After the shooting, Uribe's conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling it "an unacceptable act of violence."
Colombia's government said it was offering a reward for the capture of all those responsible.
"Respect life, that's the red line," President Gustavo Petro said in a message posted on his X account. Shortly after making the post, Petro canceled a planned trip to France "due to the seriousness of the events," according to a presidential statement.
In a statement Saturday night, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. "condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination of Senator Miguel Uribe."
Rubio called the shooting "a direct threat to democracy and the result of the violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government. Having seen firsthand Colombia's progress over the past few decades to consolidate security and democracy, it can't afford to go back to dark days of political violence. President Petro needs to dial back the inflammatory rhetoric and protect Colombian officials."
Uribe Turbay is the son of a journalist who was kidnapped and killed in 1991 during one of the country's most violent periods. Colombia will hold a presidential election on May 31, 2026, marking the end of the current term of Petro, Colombia's first leftist president. The senator announced his presidential bid in March.
Colombian police chief Gen. Carlos Triana said that at the time of the attack, Uribe Turbay was accompanied by Councilman Andrés Barrios and 20 other people. A minor who allegedly participated in the attack was apprehended at the scene and was being treated for a leg injury, he said.
"I have ordered the Colombian military and police forces and intelligence agencies to deploy all their capabilities to urgently clarify the facts," said Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Reactions poured in from around Latin America, with Chilean President Gabriel Boric saying, "There is no room or justification for violence in a democracy." Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa said, "We condemn all forms of violence and intolerance." Both presidents offered solidarity to the senator's family.
In Colombia, former President Uribe said, "They attacked the hope of the country, a great husband, father, son, brother, a great colleague."
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