Tiroteo (Shootout) At
High Noon In La Uruca
It was a quiet, normal
Friday morning. And like
any other Friday morning
around the Juan Pablo II
bridge, in La Uruca
traffic backed up in all
directions. But, this
Friday morning was to be
different, one will be
remembered by many, a
shootout in broad
daylight, at high noon,
between two assailants
and their victim. The
victim won this round.
It was about 11:20am
when businessman, León
Cortés Soler, owner of
the Fabricaciones
Técnicas shop in La
Uruca, when he set out
to visit the Banco
Nacional branch in La
Sabana to make a
withdrawl to pay his
employees their "aguinaldo".
Driven by a company
employee, Cortés, with
¢2 million colones in
his wallet, instructed
his driver to stop at
the Office Depot in La
Uruca before returning
to the shop.
However, Gustavo Adolfo
Flores Meléndez, 29, and
Juan Gabriel Herrera
Retana, 27, had other
plans for the money
Cortés had just
withdrawn from the bank,
following the vehicle as
Cortés left the bank's
parking lot.
It was at the Juan Pablo
II that two assailants,
riding on a motorcycle,
decided to take
advantage of the normal
Friday traffic and stick
up Cortés, who, at
gunpoint, handed over ¢1
million colones to his
assailants. Things were
going to end there for
Cortés, taking advantage
of the traffic that his
assailants encountered
in making their getaway.
That is when Cortés
decided that, after not
being able to react to a
gun pointed at his head
and forced to hand over
the envelope with the
money, stepped down from
his vehicle and chased
the two men, gun drawn
and began to fire at his
targets.
The two assailants fell
on the spot as the gun
shots met their mark.
According to the Fuerza
Pública (Police) and
Cruz Roja (Red Cross),
the first to fall was
Flores, who riding on
the back, hit six times,
while his associate was
hit five times, falling
over on the sidewalk.
Witnesses say they heard
at least 15 rounds
fired, as the assailants
fired back.
According to the
Organismo de
Investigación Judicial (OIJ),
Flores had a criminal
history of aggravated
assault, robbery,
illegal possession of
firearms and other
charges and had been
arrested by police and
released by courts on
many occasions. Herrera
was also known to
police, having a
criminal history as
well.
Cortés is the son of
León Cortés Pacheco who
was murdered in his home
in San Juan de Tres Río
on October 10, 1998, a
victim of an intended
robbery of his vehicle.
Fotos and graphics
courtesy of Diario
Extra. |
