[MAIL] Gunmen in Ecuador shot dead presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio as he was leaving a rally on Wednesday night, with less than two weeks to go until a bitterly contested election.Footage shared on social media showed Villavicencio, 59, being escorted out of the rally venue at 6:20pm local time and into a waiting car. He was climbing into the back seat when gunfire rang out. The windows did not appear to be bulletproof.
Last week Villavicencio, a former journalist, said he and his team had been threatened by the leader of a gang linked to drug trafficking.
He was behind at least two other candidates, but had been gaining support in recent days, and was seen as the toughest candidate on organized crime.
General Manuel Iniguez, a deputy commander of the Ecuadoran national police, said a police officer was also injured in the attack, which happened outside a college in the north of Quito.
| Courtesy of Frank G, Axios adds: |
What they're saying: Lasso said in a statement he's "outraged and shocked" by the country's first-ever assassination on the campaign trail.
"I assure you that this crime will not go unpunished," he said. "Organised crime has come a long way, but the full weight of the law is going to fall on them."
The big picture: Former journalist Villavicencio was known for speaking out on connections between government officials and organized crime, the New York Times notes.
Violence related to narcotics trafficking has escalated over the past five years in the previously mostly safe country, per the NYT.