Pain in Rionegro (Antioquia) for the murder of renowned boy scout and social leader

The municipality of Rionegro (Antioquia) lost a social leader to common crime. Scout leader Andrés Eduardo Cruz Gomez, 27, was shot dead on the Rionegro-Carmen road in Viboral.

Cruz Gomez is remembered by his friends and family as a multifaceted man. In addition to dedicating himself to the service and honor represented by the fleur de lis, which he wore since 2005, the scout was a worker of the National Chocolate Company and manifested a civic and collaborative attitude.

The death occurred during the night of last Tuesday, April 19. Cruz Gómez left doing his routine in the gym with a companion and they realized that it was raining, according to an audio that was known by the newspaper El Colombiano. Given her vocation for service, she decided to take the other person home to avoid getting wet.

While he was driving back home on the intermunicipal highway in the Cuatro Esquinas sector, a group of motorcycle gunmen fired weapons on 14 occasions against the leader of the Ashanti 79 Scout Group. One of the hypotheses that the authorities have about the case is that the criminals were trying to steal his vehicle and he resisted.

“Today we offer heartfelt condolences to his family and to the Ashanti 79 Scout Group. We are very hurt by this departure at such a young age of a good person, of an excellent person. Andrés Eduardo Cruz Gómez, you will always be in our hearts and the void will always be there because of your good deeds and your desire to serve the community,” said Juan Enrique Upegui, another scout leader of the municipality.

“We are hopeful that our brother was called to the eternal camp and surely in that same place we will meet again to share around the fire,” says the message of the scout community of the Universidad Católica de Oriente.

For his part, the mayor of Rionegro, Rodrigo Hernández, mourned the death of Cruz Gómez through his Twitter account.

On Thursday afternoon, the lifeless body of the scout leader was veiled in the church of the Holy Spirit El Porvenir, in Rionegro. His fellow community members attended, who dressed his coffin with the scout flag and made him a street of honor. Next Saturday, another scout group will hold a velathon in his honor.

According to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz), Cruz Gomez is the 59th social leader who died in violent acts during 2022. In addition, this homicide is the third to occur in the region in less than 48 hours.

José Danilo Agudelo, former mayor of the municipality of Briceño in the period from 2016 to 2019, was at his parents' house when he was attacked by armed men who shot him several times during the night of Monday, April 18.

'Cenizo', as the former president was known by the community and its neighbors, was leaving in the Parqueadero neighborhood of La Inmaculada of that municipality in northern Antioquia. At about 9:30 in the evening, on the street, in front of his parents' house, he was approached by the hit men.

Preliminary it became known that Agudelo had been shot twice, as reported by Blu Radio, and was taken in an ambulance for his care. He arrived at the health center of the municipality and later transferred to another one of greater complexity, but on the way, the former mayor died of the serious injuries.

KEEP READING: