Colombian presidential hopeful in critical condition after being shot during assassination attempt

A Colombian presidential candidate was shot in the head at a campaign rally in the capital city of Bogotá on Saturday.

Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay was talking to a group of about 250 residents in Fontibon neighborhood when two shooters, including a 15-year-old boy, opened fired, the National Police said.

The lawmaker was shot between the head and neck and was rushed to in ambulance to a neighborhood clinic, where he was stabilized. He was later transferred to Fundación Santa Fe Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Disturbing video footage showed Uribe Turbay addressing how we would handle mental health crisis when he crashed to the ground as three shots were fired. At least four more shots followed as the shocked crowed dispersed.

A separate video showed three men holding the presidential hopeful and adding pressure to the wound on his neck and head while a multitude of people screamed and cried for help.

A surveillance video showed the teen suspect racing out of the park and running down a street as Uribe Turbay’s bodyguards chased after him. 

A second video showed the teenager hobbling towards a gated residential complex and then turning around to aim his gun at the guards.

‘Respect life, that’s the red line,’ Colombian 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. 

His office condemned the cold-blooded assassination attempt in a separate statement.

‘The National Government categorically and forcefully rejects the attack that recently targeted Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay,’ the statement said.

‘This violent act is an attack not only against the senator’s personal integrity, but also against democracy, freedom of thought, and the legitimate exercise of politics in Colombia. Any act that seeks to silence those who participate in public life through intimidation or violence is unacceptable and deserves the deepest condemnation from the state and its citizens.’

Uribe Turbay’s conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling the the attack ‘an unacceptable act of violence.’ 

Former president Alvaro Uribe, who founded the right-wing party and is of no relation to Uribe Turbay, denounced the shooting.

‘They attacked a hope for the nation, a great husband, father, son, brother, a great colleague,’ President Uribe wrote on X.

‘We pray to God for Miguel’s recovery. We place our trust in the doctors, the Armed Forces, and the justice system. We appeal to the public for reflection.’

Colombian police chief General Carlos Triana said that at the time of the attack Uribe Turbay was accompanied by Councilman Andrés Barrios and 20 other people.  

The teen was apprehended at the scene and is being treated for a leg injury, he said. A firearm was also seized.

‘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.

The federal government said it was offering a reward of about $729,000 for the capture of those responsible. 

Senator Uribe Turbay is the son of a journalist Diana Turbay, 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, the end of the current term of Petro, the first leftist to come to power in Colombia. 

Uribe Turbay announced his presidential bid in March.