Zaraki Kenpachi(CNN)Colombian student activist Lucas Villa was declared brain dead Monday night, nearly a week after he was shot eight times at a peaceful protest against President Ivan Duque’s government, citing a statement from San Jorge de Pereira University Hospital where he was being treated.
His family and the government also confirmed his death on social media Tuesday.
The 37-year-old was one of three students shot by unknown gunmen on motorcycles at a demonstration on the evening of May 5 in Pereira, central Colombia.
“Continue dancing in each cloud and make everyone there happy, like you did here,” his sister, Nicole Villa wrote in a post on Instagram.
The death caused consternation in Colombia, as Villa was a well-known figure in Pereira, and doctors at San Jorge Hospital had expressed hopes he might recover from his wounds.
Duque commented on the protester’s death on Twitter writing: “We stand with the Villa family with deep sadness after the news of Lucas’ death. I repeat what I [said to] Mauricio, his father, that this becomes the opportunity to come together and reject violence. To the responsible [I wish] all the power of the law.”
The government is offering a reward of 100 million Colombian pesos ($27,000) in exchange for any “information to capture those responsible,” Minister of Defense Diego Molano wrote on Twitter, before expressing “all our commitment to finding those guilty for this atrocious crime.”
Tamara Douglas
Hugh Hay
