14 February 2006
Raúl Sanchez Sandoval
Shooting
Freelance photographer Raúl Sanchez Sandoval, who contributed to the dailies "La Hora Durandeña" and "La Prensa de Durán", was shot dead on 14 February 2006 in Durán, a suburb of Guayaquil in southwestern Ecuador, 24 hours after the killing in the same city of José Luis León Desiderio, of Radio Minutera.
Witnesses, quoted by several Ecuadorian dailies, saw Sanchez Sandoval being approached by a man in a car and the two men exchanged a few words. The driver then pulled out a gun and opened fire. The journalist was hit by two bullets in the spine, a third in the right leg and a fourth in the abdomen. He died shortly after arrival at the Luis Vernaza hospital in Guayaquil.
The dead man's brother, Héctor Suárez, stressed that nothing had been stolen from him and that the murder may be linked to his profession. His brother had apparently told him that he was being followed for several days. However, there has also been speculation that the motive for the attack may have been that the journalist allegedly owed money to some Colombians.
