Suspect in swimming party massacre arrested
The National Police, and the Public Ministry, have captured a man allegedly involved in the massacre of seven young people from a group of 13 who were heading for a swim in Lake Gatun on Friday afternoon, January 17.
He was arrested in the Achiote sector on the Costa Abajo in Colon province.
The suspect was due to appear before a judge of guarantees on Sunday. Conflicting reports and rumors have been circulating in local media about the motives of the murders of the mostly teen-aged four women and three men, from the Valle Verde community.
Preliminary reports detailed that the victims were shot, and that showed signs of having been brutally beaten but results of forensic examinations are still awaited.
The bodies were found in and around a WW II bunker in a wooded area of the former US Fort Gulick home of the notorious “School of the Americas” operated, it also hosted the 8th. Group of Special Forces and Infantry Brigade 193.
Five bodies were inside the bunker and two outside near the entrance. The victims were killed with beatings and 9-millimeter shots.
The massacre came in the midst of a dramatic escalation in gang-related homicides -including four on the same afternoon- and brought various high-level authorities to the crime scene including criminal prosecutor Adolfo Pineda by the Minister of Security, Juan Pino and National Police Director Jorge Miranda.
Prosecutor Adolfo Pineda announced that so far there is no relationship with drug issues and the investigation team is working on the issue of the possible motive.
