Law enforcement authorities in Bogotá, Colombia, identified the person responsible for shooting Sen. Miguel Uribe Turbay at a campaign event and leaving him in critical condition as a 14-year-old boy.
Uribe was reportedly unresponsive as of Monday morning after surgery and other interventions intended to remedy the damage done by the would-be assassin’s bullets, which hit Uribe in the head and neck. The senator had announced plans to run in the 2026 presidential election in the primary of the main right-wing opposition party, the Democratic Center, and is among the most vocal critics of radical leftist President Gustavo Petro in the Colombian Senate.
Uribe was speaking in the nation’s capital on Saturday evening – where Petro formerly served as mayor – when bullets pierced the air and hit him mid-speech. The teenaged boy identified as his attacker was also reportedly significantly injured and remains hospitalized in intensive care at press time.
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The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported that authorities have not published the name of the assailant, given his status as a minor, but completed his legal processing and will charge him with crimes. He is reportedly facing charges of carrying an illegal weapon and attempted homicide. As a child, he faces a maximum sentence of only eight years of deprivation of liberty at a penal center for adolescents, rather than prison time.
Colombian police ordered raids on the homes of two adult relatives of the minor, El Tiempo added, and have seized a large volume of security camera footage and communications in an attempt to find the intellectual architects of the attack, as they do not believe the child acted alone.
The Colombian right-leaning magazine Semana noted that few details of the shooter’s identity are public and police are attempting to protect his identity. Nonetheless, the publication shared that police do not believe the child had any prior criminal record or known links to criminal organizations.
The teen repeatedly hinted to not planning the attack alone before his hospitalization. One video from the chaotic scene appeared to show the child screaming, “I did it for money, for my family!” while being taken away for medical attention.
Semana reported the child also claimed to be willing to hand over “numbers,” presumably identifying others involved in the assassination plot, while the crowd that had assembled for the campaign event grabbed him to prevent his escape. The boy reportedly told the crowd, “I will give you the numbers, let me get up and let me give you the numbers.”
Police indicated on Monday that the teen’s mobile phone, a key piece of evidence, remains missing. Security camera footage appeared to show the boy using a cell phone before the shooting, but he was captured without a phone on his person, nor did police find a phone in his home.
“At the moment of the apprehension of the minor, I want to insist … the minor was not recovered with a cell phone,” Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo told reporters. “Despite this, we are doing a search because in some images, prior to the [assassination] attempt, he can be seen with a cell phone.”
Authorities also suggested the boy had indicated he wanted to share messages on his phone that would lead police to the assassination conspirators.
Authorities are offering a 3-billion-peso (about $725,000) reward for any information leading to the masterminds behind the shooting.
Miguel Uribe Turbay launched his campaign for president in October, identifying the decline in public security under Petro as a prime motivation for his run.
“Colombia demands and needs what the Democratic Center has always offered: security,” he declared.
His early campaign appeared to be gaining traction – although the official Colombian presidential campaign season has not yet begun – as he filled a Bogotá sports stadium with supporters in March, condemning Petro’s poor performance as president. In April, he went beyond that criticism to accuse Petro of attempting to “steal the 2026 elections” by grossly defunding Colombia’s national election authorities.
“That defunding is not a coincidence, it is a deliberate attempt to destabilize the electoral system and perpetuate himself in power,” Uribe said of Petro at the time.
Petro issued statements calling for the protection of the 14-year-old following the assassination attempt.
“The first thing we defend is life itself. The life of the victim, who is in good hands, and the life of the murderer, who is a minor, a child,” Petro said in a social media statement. “Laws and norms force us to protect the child for being a child, because if we do not protect the children of the fatherland, we will not have a fatherland.”
The Santa Fe Foundation of Bogotá, the medical facility treating Uribe, offered a grim update Monday.
“Miguel Uribe Turbay remains in critical condition and has scarcely responded to the interventions and medical management completed,” the facility said in a statement. “His situation is of maximum gravity, thereforever, the prognosis remains of a reserved character.”
The Democratic Center and conservative activists have begun organizing events on Monday to rally for Uribe and pray for his health. Under the slogan “March for Life, for Colombia,” the events have reportedly already attracted hundreds and are expected to continue throughout the week.
