BOGOTÁ – Colombian soccer player Alejandro Peñaranda Trujillo was murdered early Friday morning in the Aguablanca district in an attack apparently motivated by a mystery woman.
The 24-year-old centre-forward, who was on loan at Cortulua from America de Cali, was shot and killed in eastern Cali, Colombia, as he left the home of his ex-teammate Cristian Borja, a left-back for Toluca.
Another Cortulua player, Heissen Izquierdo, was also injured and taken to hospital after the duo were shot at.
“The incident took place at 00:40 a.m. local time on Friday morning, there was a party with various footballers,” said General Hugo Casos, commander of the Cali Metropolitan Police. “A man came asking for a woman and seconds later he jumped the gate and began firing at the youths, leaving one dead and another wounded with several bullet wounds.”
Peñaranda and his teammate Heissen Izquierdo were injured during the attack and transferred to a local medical center. Peñaranda died shortly afterwards, while Izquierdo remains in care at Valle University Hospital.
“We are working with the National General Police since it is a challenge for us to know what the motives for this assassination attempt are,” Casas said, adding that investigators are considering it may have been a crime of passion.
Colonel Fabian Ospina, deputy commander of the police, told media: “We are offering a reward of up to US$10 million for anyone who can give information on the aggressor.”
The young athlete was just beginning his career and had played with Atletico Nacional, the Liga, and the Copa Colombia. His colleagues in Bergamo, Italy, held a moment of silence just before the Colombia-Egypt match ahead of this year’s World Cup.
