Murder at Inbanaco

[Pete E]

Just when I start thinking its civilized around here,another reminder how different life is in Cali.It seems pretty normal most of the time.
At the Inbanaco medical center where my girlfrind works as a nurse there was a killing today.Apparently a proffesional hit.A guy was exiting Torre B with his wife.Another guy very well dressed wearing a suit with a briefcase pulled a gun out and shot the guy,his wife and the security guard that guards the door.The man,the intended victim was shot 8 times and died.His pregnant wife was shot once in the back and the security guard once in the chest.They will live.
My girlfriend was working on floor 8 in Torre A,they looked out the window and watched the guy escape.He jumped on a motorcycle,it wouldn't start.Then he jumped in a taxi that was part of the deal plus there was an SUV that was with them also.
I guess 3 years ago a guy got in  the building and shot someone on the 7th floor.Beatriz says its dangerous there because its where the people with money go,some of whom have enemies.There is some young narcotrafficer that is on the Bogota news channel recently.Beatriz says his father is in the hospital at Inbanaco.
I walked through the door to that building maybe 20 times,remember well the tall black security guard who was shot.I guess his job is about 99.99% boring,then something like. this happens.

Pete

[doombug]

... in response to Murder at Inbanaco, posted by Pete E on May 27, 2005

This image (especially the nurse's obvious state of mind) and the accompanying story fits well with your own account.  It's an expose by the Houston Chronicle titled, "Colombia's Crimson Night":

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/world/colombia/index.html

The graph and map on this page are quite revealing.  Medellin doesn't fair well:

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/world/colombia/exterminate.html

The site makes a distinction, though:

"Only a tiny fraction of the population perpetrates the violence. Some parts of the country remain as safe as any in the United States or Europe. But Colombia's crime-plagued cities and war-racked villages rank among the most violent corners of the world."

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Murder at Inbanaco, posted by doombug on May 29, 2005

Actually it a hopefull story about the refomed assasin.I guess they eventually get smart or die themselves.
The guy is right tht the reform starts in the heart of the man,but working towards  bettering the conditions these people come from would help.Maybe they could get to the kid before he became an assasin.
Uribe and Colombia have their work cut out for them.The rebels may the easiest thing to fix.

Pete

[CaliBound]

... in response to Murder at Inbanaco, posted by Pete E on May 27, 2005

Two people died in that incident at Inbanaco. The guy they were after is a well known drug dealer, Jorge Humberto Botero Gómez. He got his death sentence. He was also the ex leader of R-15, a gang that was famous for robbing Armored trucks and killing its guards.

The other person who died was the security guard of the place. The police already got the taxi driver involved in the getaway and he will be singing real soon. As I said previously, the citizen are co-operating and the police are reacting fast.

Most of the people killed in this manner are criminal themselves. Unfortunately, many innocent bystanders get killed as well.

Colombia is getting better and better since Uribe. He deserves another term.

- Frank -

[Heat]

... in response to The Police Already Got One ... The Taxi ..., posted by CaliBound on May 28, 2005

I could not agree more.

[Pete E]

... in response to Murder at Inbanaco, posted by Pete E on May 27, 2005

The story is in El Pais today,www.Elpais-cali.terra.com.co
Beatriz thought the security guard would survive,but he died in surgury.She didn't know that when she went to work this morning.She will be more upset about that,she knew the guy.If I was with her he would skip the pat down,smile and waive me through.24 years old.Probably a wife and kids,Beatriz will know.Probably made 500,000 pesos a month in a job he got killed at.
The taxi driver might have just gotten hi jacked,they are Questioning him.I guess there was another guy also,Beatriz said there was a new ford SUV that was involved.
Whats so different to me than the US is its just so blatant.Killing the guy right at the entrance to a major hospital.Its strange here,people just go about their lives as normal but there is this danger lurking.These proffesional hits are most always on underworld types themselves.So the average person is not at risk except getting caught in the cross fire.The first floor of the building is a blood laboratory.Beatriz said everybody hit the floor when the shooting started.
To the average person getting robbed or killed by a common criminal is the concern.The risk is higher in bad barrios but even in the best of areas there are bars or security doors on all entrances and lower floor windows.
The other risk is driving in certain areas in the interior.There its mostly guirillas that will set up roadblocks,sometimes disguised as police.Thats has declined alot under Uribes new security.That now only happens in more desolate areas and at night.

Pete

[Pete E]

... in response to Security guard dies, posted by Pete E on May 28, 2005

Yes a security guard did die.But it was not the guy we knew that usually guarded the door.Beatriz said it was but she was wrong.
It was strange and sad thinking of this guy I would always see at a particular place being murdered,even though I really didn't know him.So the guy I thought was dead will probably be there the next time I enter the building.
The guy who died was a new guy,no wife or kids,lived with his parents.Beatriz says the family is "muh humilde",poor.They are taking up a collection for him.
Its also strange that the guy he died trying to protect supposedly was the leader of a gang that robbed armoured cars and killed the guards.

Pete

[Malandro]

... in response to Some good news, posted by Pete E on May 30, 2005

you saved money on your car insurance??

[Pete E]

... in response to so what is the good news??, posted by Malandro on May 31, 2005


I'm not sure if you even intended to insert that post here
it make so little sense.
BUT again,the good news to me was it was not a guy I knew,even if it was very casual,that died.I will be happy to see him again and be glad he is alive.

Pete

[Calipro]

... in response to Murder at Inbanaco, posted by Pete E on May 27, 2005

Last week two guys got pulled over here in Phoenix and one of them shot the police officer in the face and killed him. Apparently the car was stolen and they wiped the car down and ditched it a few blocks from the shooting.

The only clue the police found in the car was a Denny's reciept. They went to the Dennys and got the security video. They put their faces on the news and caught them a couple of days later. The only difference between here and there is they catch the bad guys a little more often.

[doombug]

... in response to Murder in Phoenix, posted by Calipro on May 27, 2005

"The only difference between here and there is they catch the bad guys a little more often."

They--the Colombians--catch the bad guys more often than do the authorities in the U.S.

I suspect you meant the reverse.

[Heat]

... in response to Murder in Phoenix, posted by Calipro on May 27, 2005

The only difference between here and there is they catch the bad guys a little more often."""

Hey amigo,

I wish this were true.  The murder rate is higher and the rate of contract hits is much higher in Cali.

As you know crime was my job and it's much worse here and the police are incompetent in Colombia for the most part.

That said it's all risk and reward in life and the reward of living here is worth the slight risk.

Three years here and no problems for me.

See ya soon.

[Pete E]

... in response to Murder in Phoenix, posted by Calipro on May 27, 2005

A professional hit right at the entrance to a major hospital is a little different I think.There are crazies running around in the states.But a cold calculated hit in public I don't remember since Gotti took out big Paul about 20 years ago.

Pete

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Murder in Phoenix, posted by Pete E on May 27, 2005

There are so many of these guys and they seem to not worry about getting caught,which it seems they rarely do.Kind of out of control.Like not much law and order.
A whole diffferent deal than in the states I think.
Lets see,if New York had a couple of hundred hits a year it might be comparable.I think thats less then the number of assisinations in Cali.Just plain murders,several thousand I think a year.

Pete

[CaliBound]

... in response to Its a little scary and out of control, posted by Pete E on May 28, 2005

They just caught the person responsible for the bombing of Club El Nogal; the club in Bogota that got bombed a few years ago and many people lost their lives.

With the new reward incentives set up by the Colombian government, criminals are being turned in on a daily basis. Sometimes they catch this people a few hours or even minutes after the crime was committed. The other day , on Roosevelt Ave, two guys on a motorcycle shot 3 people (one died). They got caught in less than 20 minutes in a motel.

The Colombian citizens are cooperating by turning in criminals and the police are kicking ass.

- Frank -