QCOSTARICA – Wednesday morning was a quiet morning in downtown San Jose, none of the frenzy of the December shopping scene. But that tranquility was soon interrupted by a shootout, in the open, between a young man and police.
The incident took place on at 10:50 am, behind the La Merced church, on Calle 10, between Avenidas 6 and 8, resulting in the death of Luis Diego Fernández Valverde, 31, when he shot at officers of the Fuerza Publica (National Police) and San Jose Municipal Pollice, who were acting on the request for help by the victim’s 80-year-old father.
According to Deytel Beita, chief of operations of the Municipal Police of San José, the father and son were in a black Mercedes Benz E350, with California license plates, 5TEE408, that had entered Costa Rica on Monday, January 17 The elder businessman, dedicated to the radio station business, who was behind the wheel, stopped in front of some police officers and asked them for help because his son was upset and apparently under the influence of some substance, telling the officed that his son had grabbed the firearm, threatening to take his father’s life and his own.
Read more: ‘Luck prevented a major tragedy’ in shootout with police in downtown San Jose
Later, as can be seen in videos recorded by witnesses, an armed Fernández Valverde drives away in the car at full speed, however, 300 meters away, police caught up with him and the shots rang out.
“In a distraction of the now-deceased person, the officers manage to get the father out of the vehicle and get him to safety. Faced with this situation, what this person chooses is to flee in the vehicle and shots fired against the officers and who react defensively,” Beita related.
“Fortunately there were no injured civilians, we have a municipal police officer (surname Ríos) who suffered an accident while traveling to attend to the situation, an officer of the Fuerza Publica with a graze (on the hip) apparently from a gunshot and the father of the victim was also transferred to a hospital since he was in shock, in a very difficult situation for him,” added Beita.
Fernández Valverde was found with a 9-millimeter firearm. “He had three gunshot wounds to the chest,” reported the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), who are investigating.
The bloody scene and the large number of shell casings on the road shocked many onlookers, busy with their cell phones taking photos and videos despite the dangerous situation, where a bullet can stray and easily hit a bystander.