Suspect arrested in hospital contract killing

THE GUNNING down of Tatiana Lorenzo Boyd, 46, in the lobby of Hospital Panama Pacifico on Thursday, May 18, is  being treated  by  Panama  investigators as a professional “contract killing”

Security Minister  Alexis Minister Bethancourt, who has said he believes the murder is linked to organized crime, announced Friday that a suspect has been arrested.

“It is clear that this is not a femicide, she was not chosen as a target  because she was a woman, and the way the killing was  executed  does not fit that profile’’  says a press release from the Attorney General’s Office

“This assassination  is atypical in Panama, it is from abroad, however, there have been some cases with this modality, which are complex, ” the official statement said.

Lorenzo Boyd was shot  in the head Thursday May 18 by two men who arrived on a motorcycle.

According to the preliminary reports of the authorities. witnesses said that more than seven shots were heard when she was attacked in the Café Neto Hospital of Punta Pacifica. in a cafeteria that is on the ground floor the hospital.

According to the investigations, two people considered highly dangerous” suspects participated in the killing.

An elite group made up of members of the prosecution, the Investigations Directorate Judiciary (DIJ) and the National Police are oordinating the search for  the killers and are  reviewing  the security cameras in the commercial area of ​​Punta Pacifica Hospital and Corridor

Security Minister Bethancourt said  in Colón “we are watching the  borders for organized crime links”, without giving more details.

Protected witnesses
A taxi driver is a key witness and the PGN has  announced that the confidentiality  of those who have information, that confidentiality will be kept

“So that they are not subjects of threats or any kind of harm to their integrity”.

Special telephone lines have been enabled for those with information. The numbers are  507-3499, 507-2952, 512-2228 and 512-2222.