A prosecutor in Ecuador who had been investigating the January 9 attack on a public television station during a live broadcast was shot to death on January 17 in the city of Guayaquil while driving in his car, the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutor César Suárez was investigating the incident in which masked men broke onto a set at TC Television network in Guayaquil during a live newscast.
The men were armed with pistols and waving what appeared to be sticks of dynamite while shouting that they had bombs. Off-camera, gunshots could be heard.
Authorities said all 13 of the men had been arrested and would face terrorism charges.
Following the assault on the station, President Daniel Noboa declared his country was experiencing an “internal armed conflict,” with a surge of murders and crime linked to organized drug gangs.
In a video statement posted on Twitter following Suárez’s murder, Attorney General Diana Salazar said criminals, terrorists, and organized criminals would “not stop our commitment to society.”
Prosecutor Suárez has investigated several high-profile crimes in the past and was also heading up the Metastasis investigation into an Ecuadorian drug lord who was allegedly receiving favorable treatment from police officers, prosecutors, judges, and government officials.
NBC News reported on January 18 that Ecuador’s national police confirmed the arrest of two suspects in connection to Suárez’s murder.
National Police Commandant César Augusto Zapata Correa said in a social media post that police apprehended two men and seized two vehicles, two handguns, a semi-automatic rifle, magazines, and ammunition.
Ecuador has been gripped by violence and attacks, including the kidnappings of several police officers, after the apparent prison escape of Adolfo Macías, the leader of Ecuador’s notorious Los Choneros drug gang.
Marcías’ escape prompted the government to declare a state of emergency and sparked at least 30 attacks throughout the country, including the attack on the TC Television station in Guayaquil.
