Gunmen kill football player for Panama national team in Colón city

A football player from Panama‘s national team was killed by a gunshot in Colón city.

Gunmen shot at a group of people, including a 26-year-old named Gilberto Hernández, who were gathered in a building in the city.

Hernández passed away and seven other people got hurt in the attack.

We don’t know yet if the footballer, who also played for Club Atlético Independiente, was the intended person of the shooting or why it happened.

In the past few months, there have been more murders in Colón. This is because two gangs are fighting each other to control profitable drug smuggling routes.

Up until now, over 50 people have been killed in Colón, a city with 40,000 people, since the beginning of this year.

The port city, located at the northern entrance of the Panama Canal, is a place where cocaine is transported from South America through Panama to Europe.

The shooting occurred on Sunday afternoon at the local time.

Two gunmen made a taxi driver drive them to a building in a part of the city called Barrio Norte. Then they started shooting at the people who were all together in that place.

The people with guns ran away from the place where it happened.

Gilberto Hernández played his first game for Panama’s national team in March this year, in a match against Guatemala.

The father of the player asked the young people in Colón to stop being violent. He also requested that the government start projects to help the young people avoid violence.

He also told the murderers to give themselves up and not commit any more harm.

Panama’s football association and Gilberto Hernández’s club sent their sympathies to his family.