Latest news with #JuanSebastiánRodríguezCasallas
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Teenage assassin sparks more conspiracy theories as he reveals how much he was paid to target Colombian political candidate
The 15-year-old boy under arrest for shooting Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay told investigators that he was hired by a network of assassins. 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.
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Arizona gun shop at center of plot to assassinate Colombian presidential candidate
The gun used by a teenager to shoot a Colombian presidential candidate was 'acquired' through an Arizona gun shop, law enforcement source has revealed Monday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told El Tiempo newspaper that Juan Sebastían Rodríguez Casallas, 14, shot Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay with a 9mm Glock what was bought on August 6, 2020. The source also said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was also able to confirm that the weapon has been purchased at AJI Sporting Goods in Mesa. In addition, the law enforcement agent told the outlet that the ATF was able to identify the name of the purchase, Charles Joe Anderson. 'It is a model of Austrian origin, unusual in actions of this type within the country, which has activated protocols to track its arrival in the hands of the hitman,' the official said. Colombian National Police director, General Carlos Triana, said during a press conference Monday also confirmed that the weapon was legally purchased in Arizona and said investigators were looking into how the gun made its way to Colombia. An ATF spokesperson told that it could not confirm or deny the report. AJI Sporting Goods owner, Jeff Serdy, told that he had not been contacted by federal officials from Colombia and the United States as of Monday. Serdy confirmed that Anderson acquired the weapon via a 'transfer' and that his gun shop received a $30 fee. 'For the record all state and federal laws were very strictly followed during this transaction,' Serdy said. The gun was purchased from another store, whose name Serdy was unable to share. A 2024 Colombian National Police report showed that at least 3,954 guns that seized were made in the United States. Another 805 were manufactured in Italy and 414 were made in Germany. Video footage showed Senator Uribe Turbay, who is planning to run in the 2026 presidential elections, addressing a crowd of about 250 residents Saturday afternoon in Fontibon, a neighborhood in the Colombia capital city of Bogotá. Rodríguez Casallas could be seen standing several feet away from Uribe Turbay, who was starting to make his point about how his administration would combat mental illness, when he shot the lawmaker in the back of the head and fired about five more shots. A surveillance video showed the teen shooter racing out of the park and running down a street as Uribe Turbay's bodyguards chased after him. A second video showed Rodríguez Casallas hobbling towards a gated residential complex and then turning around to aim his gun at the guards. Uribe Turbay underwent surgery at Fundación Sante Fe, a clinic where he is hospitalized. The medical facility said in a statement Monday morning that the presidential hopeful 'remains in critical condition and has had little response to the interventions and medical treatments performed.' Uribe Turbay's wife, María Claudia Tarazona, took to Instagram, where she posted a heartfelt photo of her hands placed over the senator's chest. 'I ask you with all my heart, don't stop praying. Miguel needs a miracle,' she wrote. Uribe Turbay's uncle, Julio César Uribe, told reporters outside the hospital Monday that the senator's condition is 'very delicate but only doctors have the answer.' Authorities launched an operation in Villas de Alcalas, the neighborhood where Rodríguez Casallas lives with his aunt. The teen, who suffered a gun shot wound and is hospitalized at a clinic under the supervision of 50 police officers, told cops that he received orders from the leader of a drug dealing gang to carry out the shooting. 'It was the man from the (spot), I'll tell you who it was, let me give you the numbers,' Rodríguez Casallas said as he was being placed under arrest. A law enforcement source told El Tiempo that a unit of 20 cops were dispatched to the neighborhood. 'There are door-to-door inquiries asking for the name of the person who controls traffic in one of the parks in the area,' they said.
