QCOSTARICA – A Fuerza Publica (National Police) patrol was set on fire with two officers inside Monday night in San Carlos, Alajuela, confirmed the general director of the Fuerza Publica, Daniel Calderón.
The police chief stated that the incident occurred on the bridge over the San Carlos river and that it was a “cowardly attack” with a Molotov-type incendiary bomb.
“You have to be clear about this: the attack was with the officers inside the unit,” he said.
He said that firefighters and the Red Cross traveled to the site to attend to the two officers who suffered several burns on their torso and arms after the attack by the vandals.
In addition, he stated that they displaced a significant number of police officers in the area because they have information that the group that carried out the attack is quite large.
The Ministry of Public Security (MSP) did not specify if the situation happened during a road blockade, but the press officer of the Fuerza Publica, Jaime Sibaja, commented that “it was at the same point where days ago a police officer intervened and a bus that operated as a command post was parked”.
“The officers were drving by and they threw Molotov cocktails at the car,” he said.
After the event, President Carlos Alvarado condemned the acts of brutal and homicidal violence suffered by officers of the Fuerza Publica this Monday.
Nuestra policía es civilista. Condeno la violencia brutal y homicida con la que se les ha atacado hoy: haremos recaer todo el peso de la ley sobre los responsables directos y los instigadores. Somos un país de diálogo y de paz, pero también de leyes y de respeto a la vida.
— Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) October 13, 2020
“Our police are civilians. I condemn the brutal and homicidal violence with which they have been attacked today: we will put the full weight of the law on those directly responsible and the instigators.
“We are a country of dialogue and peace, but also of laws and respect for life,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
During the afternoon, protesters from the self-styled “National Rescue Movement” tried to break down the police barrier who, with protective shields, prevented them from approaching the Casa Presidencial in Zapote.
The confrontation ended in the launching of tear gas and 11 officers injured in clashes with protesters armed with bats, metal pipes and rocks.
