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Standing on a piece of wood laid across two overturned plastic crates, Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay was treading familiar political ground during a campaign trail visit to the middle-class neighborhood of Modelia in west Bogotá.

“Who are the ones with the guns? The criminals!” he declared from his makeshift soapbox in El Golfito park. It was shortly after 5 pm on that overcast first Saturday in June, and Uribe was promoting his bid to be presidential candidate for the right-wing Centro Democrático party in the 2026 election.

“Conclusion: we’re going to be very strict about issuing permits, but I do believe that law-abiding Colombians who feel the need to own a gun should be able to do so. In other words, carrying guns has to come back!”

Minutes later, he was shot in the back of the head by a 15-year-old armed with a Glock 9mm. A second and third shot struck him in the head and leg, among six heard ringing out on video from the scene. Two injuries to members of the public included a gunshot to the buttock and a bullet-grazed head, as the crowd scattered in a panicked frenzy.