Panic in shopping centre after man shoots his partner in the head  

Authorities in Columbia said a man has shot his partner after he entered a restaurant inside a shopping centre where she worked.  

Panic spread across a shopping centre in Bogota, Columbia, after a man entered a restaurant where his partner worked and shot her in the head. 

According to official reports, cited by 20Minutes, on Monday, May 11, the man, who worked as an employee of a security company, then attempted to take his own life by shooting himself in the head, but was unsuccessful. 

Paramedics along with the police were rushed to the scene of the incident and the authorities confirmed that the man was found alive.    

Police said the attacker has been identified as Christian Camilo Rincón Díaz, who had access to the weapon because of his job. His partner has been identified as 26-year-old Erika Lugo. 

The shooting caused panic in the crowded shopping centre, as a video posted on Twitter shows people running while trying to escape from the scene of the attack. 

Balacera en el Centro Comercial Unicentro de Bogotá. pic.twitter.com/7SH8VOC0FJ

— Angie Téllez (@teyyiz) May 14, 2023

According to information shared by the National Police, the incident happened at around 5:15 pm, on Sunday, May 14, when the man arrived at the pizzeria where his partner worked as the assistant manager. 

Following the attack, Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, reacted on social networks and said, “I am very sorry for what happened in Unicentro: Feminicide and suicide”.  

The mayor of Bogota, Claudia López, also expressed her regret that this episode of violence coincided with Mother’s Day, which in celebrated across some Latin American countries on the second Sunday in May.