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Colombian soccer player Alejandro Peñaranda Trujillo was murdered early Friday morning in the Aguablanca district in an attack apparently motivated by a mystery woman.
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The 24-year-old Valle del Cauca Cortulua player was attending a party at the home of a colleague, Toluca de Mexico Club's Cristian Alexis Borja, when an unknown man arrived at about 00:40 a.m. local time.
"A man came asking for a woman and seconds later he jumped the gate and began firing at the youths, leaving one dead and another wounded with several bullet wounds," said General Hugo Casos, commander of the Cali Metropolitan Police.
Peñaranda and his teammate Heissen Izquierdo were injured during the attack and transferred to a local medical center. Peñaranda died shortly afterwards, while Izquierdo remains in care at Valle University Hospital.
“We are working with the National General Police since it is a challenge for us to know what the motives for this assassination attempt are," Casas said, adding that investigators are considering it may have been a crime of passion.
Colonel Fabian Ospina, deputy commander of the police, told media: "We are offering a reward of up to US$10 million for anyone who can give information on the aggressor."
In an interview with Caracol, Peñaranda's mother, Elva Trujillo, said: "Justice, because he was a boy who was not bad or got into trouble or anything, he liked to be like this, among friends, but never had problems with anyone."
The young athlete was just beginning his career and had played with Atletico Nacional, the Liga, and the Copa Colombia. His comrades in Bergamo, Italy, held a moment of silence just before the Colombia-Egypt match ahead of this year's World Cup.
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