Teenage assassin sparks more conspiracy theories as he reveals how much he was paid to target Colombian political candidate
Juan Sebastían Rodríguez Casallas said that he was offered 20 million pesos, around $4,800, to assassinate the 39-year-old senator, City TV reported Wednesday.
The troubled teenager also told investigators that he was promised that the money would be transferred after taking out Uribe Turbay, the TV news show Noticias Caracol revealed Wednesday.
A video filmed by Venezuelan migrant and English teacher Héctor Montero showed Rodríguez Casallas standing several feet behind the conservative presidential hopeful while addressing a crowd of about 250 supporters at a rally on Saturday when he shot him twice in the head and once in the leg.
The Attorney General's Office charged the teenager with attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm during a hearing Tuesday.
Rodríguez Casallas, who is hospitalized and recovering from leg wounds, pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Uribe Turbay underwent emergency surgery at Santa Fé Foundation hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
Noticias Caracol also revealed Wednesday never-before-seen surveillance footage that showed Rodríguez Casallas stepping off the backseat of a motorcycle at 3:22 pm in the Bogotá neighborhood of Modelia, just blocks away from the park where Uribe Turbay would later meet with supporters.
The teen shooter removed his helmet and placed a red cap before a man, who was riding the bike, got off and removed his helmet. They had a brief conversation before Rodríguez Casallas placed a call with his cell phone.
A security camera caught a silver vehicle parking on the side of a street on Ferrocarril Avenue at 3:41 pm. The boy would be spotted five minutes later walking around a corner and approaching the car. He spoke to the driver for a while and then walked away as he carried out a conversation on his phone as the car pulled away.
A separate camera picked up the silver car stationed five blocks away from El Golfito Park, where Uribe Turbay was holding the rally, at 5:20 pm.
Two minutes elapsed when Rodríguez Casallas stepped out of the driver's seat of the vehicle. A short while later, a bearded man wearing a white shirt and black sunglasses to conceal his identity got off the rear door while a young woman wearing a black jacket and carrying a black handbag stepped off on the opposite side.
Surveillance footage later showed Rodríguez Casallas speed walking down a sidewalk as the man and the woman followed him, but kept their distance.
A woman appeared surprised at the pace at which the teenager was walking and stopped to look back as held her pet dog by the leash.
Rodríguez Casallas arrived at the park at 5:26 pm and made his way through the crowd shortly before he aimed his weapon and fired at Uribe Turbay.
The teen fled the park through a southern exit and ran down a residential block, where he was shot on one of his legs and apprehended at 5:30 pm.
'I did it for money, for my family,' Rodríguez Casallas cried to the arresting officers. 'Sorry, I did it for money, for my family.'
Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed on Monday that Uribe Turbay's security team was 'reduced' before the assassination attempt.
'For my part, I must now report that Senator Uribe's protection detail was strangely reduced on the day of the attack. From 7 to 3 people,' Petro wrote on X.
He also bizarrely claimed to be the subject of bounty plot against him.
'I know my head already has a price and is being handed over to dark, neo-Nazi, and non-republican forces, both domestic and foreign,' he wrote in the same post. 'They even went so far as to demand that the Mossad perform an extraction operation.
Authorities have not said how Rodríguez Casallas was able to acquire the 9mm Glock that he used in the assassination attempt.
National Police director, General Carlos Triana, said during a press conference Monday that the gun was legally acquired by in Mesa, Arizona on August 6, 2020.
A law enforcement source told El Tiempo newspaper that Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was able to identify the buyer as Charles Joe Anderson.
AJI Sporting Goods owner Jeff Serdy told the Daily Mail on Monday that he had not been contacted by officials from Colombia or the US.
He explained that his shop brokered the gun's transfer from a dealer to his store, as buyers cannot purchase directly from a dealer and then have firearms delivered to their homes.
Serdy said his shop received a $30 processing fee for the transfer, but did not sell the gun to Anderson. He only picked it up there.
'For the record all state and federal laws were very strictly followed during this transaction,' he said, adding that a background check was conducted.
Senator Uribe Turbay is the son of a journalist Diana Turbay, who was kidnapped and killed in 1991 during one of the country's most violent periods.
His maternal grandfather, Julio César Turbay, was president of Colombia from 1978 to 1982.
Colombia will hold a presidential election on May 31, 2026, the end of the current term of Petro, the first leftist to come to power in Colombia.
Uribe Turbay announced his presidential bid in March.
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