Guatemalan lawyer and former prosecutor Juan Francisco Solorzano Fopa was killed in an armed attack at the Campo Marte sports complex in Guatemala City. The 43-year-old lawyer was at a soccer game when gunmen opened fire.
A second man, identified by police as Gustavo Adolfo Aguilar Gamarro, was also killed in the shooting. Reports of injuries differ: The Los Angeles Times, citing the Associated Press, reported five people were injured, while other local publications said three. The National Civil Police have detained two suspects and seized a firearm. The motive for the attack has not been announced, and the circumstances surrounding the shooting are being clarified.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly murder of former prosecutor Juan Francisco Solorzano Fopa. His direct and guarantor agents must face the consequences with all the severity of the law“, said Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo. He added that he had ordered the executive branch institutions to work with the competent authorities to clarify the crime.
A lawyer with a role in landmark cases
Solorsano Fopa worked in the prosecutor's office and headed its criminal analysis unit from 2013 to 2016. Later, between 2016 and 2018, he headed the Guatemalan tax administration.
As a prosecutor, he participated in investigations against corruption, including the "La Linea" case, which led to the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina in 2015. As a lawyer, Fopa defended journalist José Rubén Zamora, who was put on trial on charges related to his work.
The police and the prosecutor's office must establish who organized the attack, what was the role of the two detainees and whether the murder was related to the lawyer's professional and public activities. At present, there is no officially announced motive, nor any information about charges against the detainees.
Sources: investing.com, efe.com, latimes.com