Murder of a young man in a Paso Carrasco supermarket shocked the neighborhood

It was a few minutes after 9 o’clock when two robbers stopped their motorcycle and entered determined to rob the place. One of them went to the bottom and the other tried to attack the front with a shotgun that was pointed straight at Vanesa, Víctor’s mother, who was shopping near the cash register. It was then that the teenager intervened: first he threw himself on the criminal and then a struggle began.

Screams. cumshots Panic. Those present fled immediately, except for the second offender, who took his shotgun and shot the young man in the armpit. To one side of the supermarket, and under a Neighborhood Alert sign, lives Graciela, a woman who was astonished by the noise and immediately left her house. “It was 9 in the morning. I was calm, I had already gotten up and I felt ‘splash! splash!’ (in reference to the bullet). I felt that barbaric scandal, I went out and saw that there was a person down.” It was Víctor, who was rushed to the Catholic Circle, located three blocks away, where he died.

In the afternoon, his mother, shocked, could not believe what had happened and asked for space to grieve.

Silence reigned in the long, narrow hallway on the way to the house. Barking dogs could hardly be heard when José, the owner of the place, went to the curtain that served as a door to talk with his tenant, who insisted that his son “did not mess with anyone” and “was with him all day.” them, and she tried hard not to start crying.

A corridor led to the house of the affected family

“Three months ago I had started working,” he lamented. “If one says ‘he was in a bad life, they killed him for stealing’, well… But no. He was a good, healthy little boy, he didn’t smoke,” he continued. “Hard worker”, “humble” and “silent” was defined by the neighbor.

Victor’s mother works at a fruit and vegetable stand that declared its closure “because of grief.” His father is an employee of the Don Beto supermarket, located less than three blocks from where the event took place. Both are in charge of three other children, all younger than the deceased.

Camilo Dos Santos

La Granja stall closed after the murder

One of them arrived home crestfallen and accompanied by two friends when it began to spark. His mother was waiting for him by the door, standing up, but with teary eyes. “We spend working, we spend involved in work,” she insisted, unable to believe it.

The neighborhood and crime

Robberies, robberies, assaults and public aggressions have become familiar terms for the residents of Paso Carrasco in every narrative, experience or dialogue with other citizens. It is based on this that they demand greater police support from the authorities.

Graciela, the woman who heard the shots from her home, told El Observador that her son was forced to close the internet he had because “they had threatened him with weapons and they were going to kill him.” Just like her, several people from the area witnessed criminal acts in recent times: Enilda, who has lived in the area for more than 45 years, witnessed a robbery of an elderly man with his daughter less than two weeks ago; Alfredo, who is in charge of the supermarket where the victim’s father works, reported the outrage to an old woman this morning and José, who has lived there for more than 54 years, was the victim of a takeover at his house.

“The responses are always punctual, but later they take time. What we need here is more security for our gurises and our families because we are totally unprotected,” said the mayor of Paso Carrasco, Verónica Veiga, in statements to Canal Four.

“We received the news very badly. (…) It is not the first time that they come or assault here. There is no time: it has happened several times at this time of the morning,” said Karina Núñez, a reference for Neighbors on Alert .

Camilo Dos Santos

The neighbors claim the little police participation in the neighborhood

Enilda agreed with her, a neighbor who avoids going out and is afraid of crime that, she believes, originates in the surrounding settlements: “Heber has to come to Paso Carrasco because he goes to all the neighborhoods except this one. Paso Carrasco is isolated. We call to the police and we don’t have a cell phone. You could be dying at home, you tell a neighbor that you’re being robbed and we don’t have a cell phone. You call 911 and they have you on the phone for an hour and when they come it’s all over. Honestly, We are afraid. It happens every day: they steal bicycles, they rob motorcycles, they hurt women who come from work, they get off the bus and they take their wallets. There have always been robberies, but now it is continuous. You have to be there at 8 at night in your house locked up,” he said. And she explained that despite living “locked up” with her children and grandchildren, she feels the need to promote a change in the police stations.

Alfredo, for his part, insisted that “every day” he observes a “different drama.” “There are always two on a motorcycle. And today there was a car that ran over a lady five or six blocks away and the woman was seriously injured. In the same morning we already have almost two deaths here. It’s not easy and it’s getting worse,” he said. .

“A few months ago, when (Jorge) Larrañaga was there, we had the police van every day, and the Republican one was around the corner until 2 or 3 in the morning. Now, nobody is seen. It is seen that It changed everything,” he added.

The march to ask for justice for Víctor began around 7:00 p.m. this Wednesday from the supermarket where he was shot. Despite the rain, dozens of neighbors were present at the scene and accompanied the tour on the way to the police station with banners.