Last month, 25 people were killed with a gun, knife or other weapon, according to the Cruz Roja Costarricense (Costa Rica’s Red Cross). In the December 2012, 16 murders were recorded.
The deaths in the total are only those who died at the scene of the attack and does take into account those who died in hospital.
The last recorded homicide of 2013 was of a Alajuela woman Monday night (December 30) at 10:40pm, in the shantytown of El Erizo. The victim was identified as Angelica Orozco Hernandez, 30 years of age, who was an alleged drug dealer of the area. The preliminary report by the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) indicates that the woman refused to supply a client who owed her money. She was shot in the chest.
In addition to the murders, the Cruz Report indicates another 84 people died violently, of which 38 died in traffic accidents such as being struck by a vehicle or in collissions, the rest in water accident, electrocutions and other accidents.
The report inicates that this past December is most violent of the past six years. In 2008, there were 102 deaths; 95 in 2009; 74 in 2010; 90 in 2011; and 80 in 2012.
With respect with the total number of deaths from all violent crimes, the OIJ record shows 360 up to the end of November of 2013.
In 2012, the OIJ recorded 394 violent deaths.
