Colombian Presidential candidate shot twice in the head by 15-year-old attacker at campaign event
See the moment he was shot
Tragedy struck Colombia’s political scene on Saturday, June 7, as presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was shot multiple times — including twice in the head — while speaking at a campaign event in Bogotá.
The attack occurred as Uribe addressed a small gathering in a public park.
According to local reports, a 15-year-old suspect was apprehended at the scene shortly after the shooting.
His wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, issued a heartfelt plea for prayers: “Miguel is currently fighting for his life. Let us ask God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him.”
Footage circulating online captured the harrowing moment Uribe was shot mid-speech, causing panic and chaos among the crowd. Emergency responders confirmed he was shot in the knee and twice in the head before being airlifted to the Santa Fe Clinic, where supporters have since gathered in vigil.
The conservative candidate’s party, Centro Democrático, condemned the shooting as an attack not just on a political figure, but on Colombia’s democracy and freedom.
President Gustavo Petro’s administration also denounced the assault “categorically and forcefully,” calling it an act of violence against democracy. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed the sentiment, labelling the incident a “direct threat to democracy.”
Uribe hails from a storied political lineage. He is the grandson of former President Julio César Turbay Ayala (1978–1982) and son of Diana Turbay, a journalist who was kidnapped and killed during a 1991 rescue operation involving the Medellín cartel. His mother’s death profoundly shaped his path into politics, a journey he began after graduating from Harvard and entering the Colombian Senate in 2022.
Uribe launched his presidential campaign in October 2024 at the very site where his mother was killed, declaring, “I could have grown up seeking revenge, but I decided to do the right thing: forgive, but never forget.”
See the exact moment he was sh0t here.
