After gang violence in a Medellin district left two dead and five injured, locals criticized what they called a deteriorating security situation.
According to local media, residents of the Comuna 8 district claimed that over the past two weeks shootings and gang confrontations have escalated. They also said that security in the area is lacking and has been especially insufficient over the last three months.
Comuna 8 inhabitants said that the confrontation that left two people dead was a result of “local gangs vying for territorial control.” According to reports, a violent clash on Tuesday night between gang members from the “La Sierra” and “Ocho de Marzo” neighborhoods of Comuna 8 and Comuna 9 has left locals clamoring for authorities to intervene in what seems to be an escalating turf war.
“We are moving hand in hand with the police to get information and [to] clarify the facts,” said Medellin’s secretary of security, Eduardo Rojas. According to him, the two deaths were separate incidents. Rojas claimed that one man was indeed shot down by gunmen but the other death, that of a 17-year-old, was due to the mishandling of a grenade, though he did admit that the fatal explosive device was intended for gang related activity.
The efficacy of the police presence in Comuna 8 aside, the security secretary pointed out that nevertheless there are “more than a hundred police officers” and an Army presence in the troubled district.