Gunman kills man and wounds two near school in Cartagena, Colombia.
NEWS:
A gunman killed one man and wounded two others after approaching a group seated outside a business and opening fire in the Escallón Villa neighborhood of Cartagena, Colombia, on May 20, 2026.
The shooting happened at approximately 00:6:30 p.m. near the Soledad Román de Núñez educational institution, as students were leaving the area.
Security camera footage records the attack. The timestamp on the video shows approximately 00:6:26 p.m. A group of people is seated around a table outside the business when the gunman approaches from behind and begins firing repeatedly toward them.
The footage shows people nearby running from the gunfire. The man who receives the brunt of the attack falls beside the table as the shooter continues firing. Other people seated with him are also struck.
Police identified the man who died as José Gabriel Serrano Ríos. Authorities said he had been sitting and socializing with other people when he was attacked from behind.
Serrano Ríos was taken to a nearby medical facility after the shooting. Medical personnel reported that he arrived without vital signs.
Two other men who were at the table were wounded by gunfire. Police later said their injuries were not considered serious. Their identities were not publicly released in the information reviewed.
Students and other pedestrians were moving through the area when the shooting occurred. The attack happened close to the Soledad Román de Núñez school at a time when students were leaving after classes.
The video directly confirms that a gunman approached the seated group and fired repeatedly. It also shows people fleeing and the fatal victim collapsing. The footage does not establish why the shooting occurred, who ordered it or what relationship, if any, existed between the shooter and the people at the table.
Police said Serrano Ríos had no judicial record.
Investigators deployed criminal investigation and intelligence personnel after the killing in an effort to identify both the person who carried out the shooting and anyone who may have been involved in planning or ordering it.
Authorities said information gathered at the scene and security camera footage were being used in the investigation.
The available evidence indicates that Serrano Ríos received concentrated gunfire during the attack, but police had not publicly established a motive. Reports that the shooting specifically targeted him were based on the circumstances of the attack and the investigative information available immediately afterward.
Some reports stated that more than seven shots may have been fired. That precise number was not established in the police information reviewed, so no definitive shot count has been confirmed.
About 30 minutes after the Escallón Villa attack, another man was killed in a separate shooting in the Nelson Mandela neighborhood of Cartagena. Police identified that victim as Jesús David Duarte Cogollo. No verified information reviewed established a connection between the two killings.
A later account published after the Escallón Villa shooting continued to identify Serrano Ríos as the victim but did not report an arrest, name a suspect or establish a motive for his killing.
No publicly verifiable subsequent announcement located for this report identified the gunman or another person as responsible for Serrano Ríos' death.
News story written by DarkGore.
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