Santiago’s very popular carnival was suspended for next Sunday, 19 February after a bullet fired by a policeman accidentally killed a 12-year old boy Donaly Martínez in a confusing incident. Several officers and civilians are under arrest, including the policeman who is accused of firing the lethal shots, Alejandro Castro Cruz. Castro Cruz had joined the Police in 2016.
The incident occurred during a confusing altercation between police and civilians who had been enjoying the carnival celebrations in the vicinity of Las Carreras Avenue corner Mella Street.
Donaly Martínez was accidentally hit by three bullet impacts, when Castro Cruz struggled with Anthony Martínez, father of the minor, over the high volume of music played in a vehicle owned by the boy’s father.
According to the surveillance video, the police officers never gave first aid to the bleeding child who was sitting on a chair. The video shows the police left the area after arresting Martinez and taking him in the patrol car.
People have protested the death of the boy in Santiago.
The director general of the National Police, Major General Eduardo Alberto Then promised to clarify the tragic event and take to justice those responsible.
Then said the action was outrageous, imprudent and contrary to the guidelines of the force. “The members of the National Police have been instructed to serve the people and to defend them. Any action that deviates from these principles will have its consequences,” he stated. He visited the relatives of the deceased minor in the Cienfuegos sector of the Santiago Oeste municipal district.
El Día reported one surveillance video showed the moment when a police officer belonging to the Rapid Action Unit sprayed pepper spray in the face of the father of the deceased teenager, when they were trying to confiscate the speakers of a vehicle on the street Las Carreras on the corner of Mella.
Later, in the middle of the struggle, a shot was fired and then the agent is seen with his regulation pistol in his hand and the father of the minor rushing towards the police officer.
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14 February 2023