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Ecuadorian Presidential Candidate Assassinated at Campaign Event

Fernando Villavicencio was stepping into his car when a man stepped forward from the crowd and shot him in the head, local reports said.

A presidential candidate in Ecuador was shot dead Wednesday at a campaign event in the country’s capital of Quito, the country’s current leader confirmed. Fernando Villavicencio, a former member of Ecuador’s national assembly who was polling at roughly 7.5%, was stepping into his car when a man stepped forward from the crowd and shot him in the head, local reports said. Videos on social media from the scene show chaos as attendees scream and run for cover. The motive remains unclear, though Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso suggested the killing was connected to organized crime and vowed to avenge his death. “For his memory and his fight, I assure you that this crime will not remain unpunished,” Lasso wrote on Twitter. “Organized crime has gone very far, but all the weight of the law will fall on them.”

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