Colombian police Tuesday arrested a 17 year-old suspected of murdering Ebert Mosquera, the dean of economics at the University of Santiago in the south Colombian city of Cali.
The youth has reportedly confessed to the authorities that he was paid COP 2 million (around $1,000) to carry out the assassination. He was captured by the dean’s bodyguards in the confusion following the shooting, before being handed over to the police.
Students who witnessed the crime have confirmed that there was a second perpetrator, police commander General Gustavo Adolfo Ricaurte said. Initial reports Tuesday suggested that a suspect had managed to flee the crime scene on a motorcycle.
Police did not comment on a motive for the assassination.
The 38 year-old university professor, who was married and father to a nine year-old son, was gunned down as he lunched with his security team in the university cafeteria.
The murder comes amid a special security council meeting in Cali, in which government ministries, the police, the army, the intelligence agency DAS, and forensic investigators are working out ways to address escalating crime in the Valle del Cauca capital.
