- Shocking footage shows the man gunning down two environmental protesters in Chame, Panama
- The pair were killed and one person was arrested in connection with the incident, officials said
- ***WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES***
PUBLISHED: 09:46 EST, 8 November 2023 | UPDATED: 12:08 EST, 8 November 2023
This is the shocking moment a motorist shot dead two environmental demonstrators at near point blank range after becoming enraged over their road blockade in Panama.
Harrowing images captured the shooter, a frustrated elderly man, climbing out of his car to argue with the eco-protesters who had stopped traffic on the Pan-American Highway in the town of Chame.
He initially attempted to reason with the protesters, but moments later pulled a handgun from his pocket and began gesturing wildly as his frustration grew. Despite the imminent danger, the protesters stubbornly refused to curtail their demonstration and continued to argue back and forth with the disgruntled motorist, who became visibly more enraged with each passing moment.
For a time it looked as though the gunman was prepared to back down, but when one protester holding a flag stepped towards him, he snapped the pistol back up and fired at his target from mere feet away.
Terrified onlookers and other protesters helped move the victim to the side of the road and laid him down on the ground as the gunman calmly began dismantling a small barricade made of stones and tyres erected by the demonstrators.
Still undeterred, another protester wearing a black t-shirt and jeans tried to confront the gunman and was also shot. Footage shows how he recoiled from the shot, holding his upper chest in pain and with an expression of disbelief on his face.
He is shown hobbling away to the side of the road as other protesters run for cover, before slumping to the ground.
Horrified friends of the victims rushed to their aid, with bystanders seen applying pressure to the wounds in an attempt to stem the blood loss - but neither victim survived their injuries.
Police descended on the scene and promptly arrested the shooter, dragging him away in cuffs and bundling him into the back of a squad car.
This is the shocking moment an irate motorist shot dead an environmental protester in Panama. He went on to shoot another man in the incident before being detained
Motorist shoots dead two environmental protestors blocking the road
Police also published a photo of the detainee - an older man with greying hair and glasses - seated with one hand cuffed to a pipe, either in a police station or van. He was earlier seen walking down the road towards the protesters
The man was seen pulling a gun from his pocket and waving it in front of the protesters in the middle of the road
The man is seen gesturing with the handgun in his right hand, as he argues with the protesters blocking the road
One man, seen in a black t-shirt holding a flag, got into a heated argument with the man (lfet). The video cuts to the man holding the flag falling to the ground
This is the shocking moment one of two environmental protesters blocking a road in Panama was shot dead by an irate driver
The first man to be shot is seen being treated on the ground
A second man also confronted the gunmen. This photo was taken moments before he was also shot by the angry motorist in Chame, Panama
The tragic incident came amid the latest round of protests in a three-week long demonstration against a controversial government mining contract in the country, officials said.
Several avenues in the capital were blocked Tuesday by small groups of protesters, while the Pan-American Highway was obstructed in several spots, hindering transport of food, fuel and medicine.
The deaths followed local reports that a demonstrator was run over and killed on November 1 by a foreigner attempting to cross a roadblock during a protest in the west of the country.
The contract, given final approval October 20, allows the local subsidiary of Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals to continue operating an open-pit copper mine in a richly biodiverse jungle west of the capital.
The contract is for the next 20 years - with the possibility of extending for a further 20 years if the mine remains productive.
Since protests began, the government nearly passed legislation that would have revoked the contract, but it backtracked in a late-evening debate at the National Assembly on November 2.
The man is seen standing in the middle of the road after being seen to have shot two people in the middle of the protest
A man is seen holding a gun after walking up to a teachers' blockade on the Pan-American Highway in Chame
The man, still holding the handgun, is seen attempting to clear the blockade in the road
A man is arrested after shooting two protesters with a gun in the middle of a teachers' blockade on the Pan-American Highway in Chame, Panama
The angry motorist is seen being put into the back of a police van after the shooting incident on Tuesday
People react after witnessing a man shoot two protesters with a gun in the middle of a teachers' blockade on the Pan-American Highway
A woman participates in a vigil for two two men killed in the shooting incident during Tuesday's protest
In an effort to calm tempers, congress last week passed a law that imposes a moratorium on new metal mining contracts and left it up to the Supreme Court to decide on whether to allow the contract with First Quantum Minerals.
Environmentalists have welcomed this decision by lawmakers, saying indeed it is the court that should rule on whether the contract violates the constitution.
But a powerful construction union called Suntracs, teachers unions and other organizations want the contract to be annulled through a law passed by Congress.
As a result, they are continuing their protests.
Source (Archive)
