Colombia presidential hopeful shot in head at rally

Miguel Uribe Turbay last month in the Senate

A Colombian presidential candidate has been shot and seriously injured at a campaign event in the capital, Bogota.

Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was hit three times – reportedly twice in the head – by a gunman while he was addressing a small crowd in a park on Saturday.

Police arrested a man at the scene. Uribe is in critical condition in hospital, according to Colombian media.

Uribe’s Centro Democratico party condemned the attack, saying that it “endangers the life of a political leader… democracy and freedom in Colombia”.

Colombian presidential candidate shot and wounded

BOGOTA, June 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) – A Colombian right-wing opposition senator and candidate to next year’s presidential election was in intensive care Saturday after being shot during a campaign event in Bogota, authorities said.

A video circulating on social media shows 39-year-old Miguel Uribe giving a speech in front of several people when gunshots suddenly ring out.

In other images he appears slumped against the hood of a white car, smeared with blood, as a group of men try to hold him up.

Media reported the suspected shooter was a teenager who had been arrested.

Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo told Caracol Radio that Uribe was in “intensive care.”

Local media reported that at least one bullet struck the senator in the neck or head.

The government of leftist President Gustavo Petro said it “categorically and forcefully” condemned the attack on Uribe during the campaign event in the west of the capital.

“This act of violence is an attack not only against his person, but also against democracy, freedom of thought, and the legitimate exercise of politics in Colombia,” the presidency said in the statement.

Uribe, a strong critic of Petro, is a member of the Democratic Center party, who announced last October his intention to run in the 2026 presidential election.

– Shot ‘from behind’ –

His party said in a statement Saturday that an “armed individual” had shot the senator from behind.

The attack “not only endangers the life of a political leader, but also threatens democracy and freedom in Colombia,” it said.

The party leader, Colombia’s influential former president Alvaro Uribe, meanwhile described the shooting as an attack against “a hope for the country.”

Bogota Mayor Carlos Galan said on X that “the shooter has been captured.”

Local media reported that a 15-year-old boy had been arrested and was suspected of pulling the trigger.

Attorney General Camargo said she had seen those reports but that the information had yet to be verified.

Miguel Uribe is a member of a family with a long political tradition in Colombia.

One of his grandfathers was former Colombia president Julio Cesar Turbay, who led the country from 1978 to 1982.

And his mother, Diana Turbay, was a renowned journalist who was kidnapped by the Medellin Cartel, led by the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar, and who was killed in a failed military rescue operation in 1991.

Uribe himself has been a senator since 2022. He previously served as Bogota’s government secretary and city councilor.

He also ran for city mayor in 2019, but lost that election.

Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that authorities were offering a reward of around $700,000 for information leading to the capture of those behind Saturday’s attack.

The Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has been shot in Bogotá, with reports he was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

The 39-year-old senator, who is running for the presidency in 2026, is a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Centre party founded by the former president Alvaro Uribe. The two men are not related.

According to the party’s statement condemning the attack, the senator was hosting a campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighbourhood in the capital on Saturday when “armed subjects shot him in the back”.

The party described the attack as serious, but did not disclose further details on Uribe’s condition.

The defence minister, Pedro Sánchez, said a suspect had been arrested in the shooting and authorities were investigating whether others were involved. Sánchez said he had visited the hospital where Uribe was being treated.

Colombia’s presidency issued a statement saying the government “categorically and forcefully” rejected the violent attack, and called for a thorough investigation.

Uribe is from a prominent family with links to the country’s Liberal party. His father was a businessman and union leader. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped in 1990 by an armed group under the command of the late cartel leader Pablo Escobar. She was killed during a rescue operation.

The president, Gustavo Petro, sympathised with the senator’s family, posting online: “I don’t know how to ease your pain. It is the pain of a mother lost, and of a homeland.”

Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay (right) reacts after the Senate voted against the government labor reform referendum promoted by Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro in Bogota on May 14, 2025. A Colombian right-wing opposition senator and candidate for next year’s presidential election, Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was shot and wounded in Bogota on June 7, 2025, various media reported, while the government denounced an “attack.” (PHOTO / AFP)

BOGOTA – Colombian senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, who is running for the presidency in 2026, was shot and seriously wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, local authorities said.

Uribe Turbay was addressing a group of people when armed assailants shot him from behind, said Democratic Center, the senator’s party.

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Images circulating on social media shows Uribe Turbay covered in blood, apparently with a head wound, as several people held him. Local media said he is in serious condition in hospital.

Colombia’s Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced the arrest of a suspect in the shooting of the senator, adding that an investigation is underway to determine whether others were involved.

Bogota: Colombian Sen. Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible candidate in the country’s presidential election next year, was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said. His conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling it “an unacceptable act of violence.”

The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing party, which was founded by former President Alvaro Uribe. The men are not related. Images circulating on social media showed Uribe Turbay covered in blood, apparently with a head wound, being held by several people. So far, no official report has been released on the senator’s condition.

A suspected shooter has been captured, Bogotá Mayor Carlos Galán said on the social platform X. But the federal government said it was offering a reward for the capture of those responsible. “Respect life, that’s the red line,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a message posted on his X account. Shortly after making the post, Petro canceled a planned trip to France “due to the seriousness of the events,” according to a presidential statement.

Uribe Turbay is a senator and the son of a journalist who was kidnapped and killed in 1991 during one of the country’s most violent periods. 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.

Colombian police chief Gen. Carlos Triana said that at the time of the attack Uribe Turbay was accompanied by Councilman Andrés Barrios and 20 other people. A minor who allegedly participated in the attack was apprehended at the scene and is being treated for a leg injury, he said. A firearm was also seized.

“I have ordered the Colombian military and police forces and intelligence agencies to deploy all their capabilities to urgently clarify the facts,” said Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez. Former President Uribe said “they attacked the hope of the country, a great husband, father, son, brother, a great colleague.”