Homicide in Ituzaingó: 29-year-old man shot dead, police investigate

A 29-year-old man with a criminal record was fatally shot in the head early Friday morning in the Ituzaingó neighborhood of Montevideo. Police responded to reports of a man injured by gunfire at the intersection of Iberia and Iguazú, near the National Hippodrome of Maroñas.

Upon arrival, officers found the victim lying on the street. A passerby had discovered him after hearing several shots fired. Emergency medical personnel pronounced the man dead at the Malvinas polyclinic. The case is now under investigation by the Homicide Department and the Investigations Area, with the second-turn Homicide Prosecutor's Office involved in determining the circumstances and identifying the perpetrators.

This incident occurs during a week marked by significant police activity in Montevideo. Authorities recently detained a second suspect in the robbery of a Banco República branch in Pando. Additionally, a 17-year-old was formalized for his alleged involvement in a quintuple homicide in the El Monarca neighborhood on July 10. Two men and a woman were also formalized for the July 24 homicide of a 12-year-old boy in the Parque Rodó quarries.

In a separate operation, police arrested Axel Joel Mattos, 25, identified as the leader of the criminal gang "Los Colorados," in Cerro Norte. Mattos, who has prior criminal convictions, faces charges including aggravated internal arms trafficking, firearm discharge, aggravated assault with a weapon, illegal firearm possession, and money laundering. He has been remanded in custody for four months pending further investigation. His criminal history includes incidents where his home was attacked, resulting in the death of his one-year-old son and injury to his partner, and a subsequent attack on him and his partner while they were with a child.