A 15-year-old teenager died this Thursday after taking part in a failed robbery of a grocery delivery truck in the Maipú commune, Santiago Metropolitan Region. The incident occurred following an exchange of gunfire with Carabineros officers who were attempting to stop the theft of goods.
The incident broke out around 12:45 p.m. on Cuatro Poniente Avenue, near the intersection with Eduardo Frei Montalva. According to reports from La Tercera, officers from the 44th Lo Prado Police Station responded to the area following a distress call, where they encountered a group of armed individuals boarding a delivery truck.
During the confrontation, crossfire broke out between the criminals and the officers. Juan Carlos Hidalgo, the prosecutor for the Western Flagrancy Unit, explained that the assailants were repelled by officers from the Lo Prado Police Investigation Section (SIP), who were in the area at the time of the call.
The Western Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office confirmed that the 15-year-old boy died at the former Posta Central hospital due to gunshot wounds. A second teenager, a 17-year-old Ecuadorian national, remains hospitalized at the same facility in critical condition.
The police operation involved the deployment of patrol units and aerial support from the Air Prefecture. According to information from La Tercera, the assailants were traveling in a vehicle that had been reported stolen.
Following the shootout, two of the suspects fled on foot, one of whom was apprehended without injury. The other two suspects attempted to escape in the vehicle but crashed into a tree just meters away, resulting in the severe injuries that led to the minor's death and the other youth's critical condition.
BioBioChile reported that, so far, three members of the group have been detained, while a fourth suspect remains at large and is being sought by authorities after fleeing the scene in an unknown direction.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has ordered investigations into the use of institutional firearms by the officers. Additionally, an expert examination has been ordered for a weapon found inside the crashed vehicle.
The investigation is being led by the Criminalistics Laboratory (Labocar) and the Carabineros' OS9 Department, both of which are working to establish the exact timeline of the incident.
