Argentina in shock over what happened in the city of Caseros, where a 42-year-old man tried to kill his wife, and then took a friend hostage, whom he later killed, before being shot by the police. In addition to the two victims, the toll also speaks of three officers injured, one of whom is in very serious condition.
According to what was reconstructed by the local authorities, the story took place in the house where the 42-year-old - Alejandro Maldonado - lived with his wife. Before the events, the couple were in the company of a 47-year-old, José Cáceres, who had arrived at the house with his wife and son.
The evening, however, degenerated and a violent quarrel broke out, at the height of which Maldonado tried to hang his wife, but stopping before the worst and reviving her. At that point, however, the two women and their son left the house, where Maldonado barricaded himself, armed, holding only his 47-year-old friend hostage. On the spot, after the alarm, the police soon arrived and started negotiations for the release of the 47-year-old.
The 42-year-old, however, refused to collaborate and started firing wildly towards the outside (there is talk of at least 300 shots). In the end the agents decided to raid, killing Maldonado and finding inside the house the now lifeless body of the hostage, who was allegedly killed by the kidnapper during the negotiation, which lasted all night.
"Maldonado was a person with quite significant mental disorders and in his delirium he said he was preparing for the third world war," said the security minister of the province of Buenos Aires, Sergio Berni.
As for the policemen reached by the shots, they are all hospitalized: one was wounded in the neck, another in the chest and the third, the most serious, in the femoral artery.
(Unioneonline / lf)