A Colombian police officer shot himself in Cartagena on Wednesday, reported local media Thursday.
Officer Jose Alberto Galeano was in front of one of Cartagena’s most visited tourist sites, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, when he shot himself in the head with a 9mm pistol at 5:20PM Wednesday afternoon.
Galeano’s colleagues rushed him to a nearby clinic in a taxi where doctors tried to stabilize his condition. However the bullet had caused severe brain lesions and Galeano passed away in the intensive care unit.
According to witnesses, police were preparing to leave the site when Murillo received a call, after which he put the pistol to his head. The call was allegedly in regards to a trial being carried out against him. Authorities are still investigating the facts of the case.
Galeano, originally from the central Colombian department of Caldas, arrived to Cartagena the previous week to bolster security for the upcoming Summit of the Americas, scheduled to take place April 14 to 15 in the coastal city with 34 regional heads of state.