A Colombian presidential candidate has been shot three times – reportedly twice in the head – at a campaign event in the capital, Bogota.
Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was attacked by a gunman while addressing a small crowd in a park on Saturday. Police arrested a man at the scene.
His wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, called on the nation to pray for his survival. “Miguel is currently fighting for his life. Let us ask God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him,” she said.
Uribe’s Centro Democratico party condemned the attack, saying that it “endangers the life of a political leader… democracy and freedom in Colombia”.
Phone footage shared online appears to show the moment when he was shot in the head mid-speech, prompting those gathered to flee in panic.
Paramedics said he had been shot three times, including twice in the head, AFP news agency reported.
The government of left wing President Gustavo Petro said it “categorically and forcefully” condemned the attack as an “act of violence not only against his person, but also against democracy.”
Uribe announced his candidacy for next year’s presidential election in October.
He is from a prominent political family in Colombia, with links to the country’s Liberal Party. His father was a union leader and businessman.
His mother was Diana Turbay, a journalist who was killed in 1991 in a rescue attempt after she had been kidnapped by the Medellin drugs cartel run at the time by Pablo Escobar.
