Fernando Villavicencio, a member of Ecuador’s national assembly who was running for president in the upcoming election, was killed Wednesday after an event in Quito.
According to an individual on his campaign team, he had just gotten into his car when a man stepped forward and shot him in the head.
President Guillermo Lasso confirmed the death on social media, expressing his outrage and shock and promising that the perpetrators would face the full weight of the law.
The election is still set for 20 August, although crime is a major issue in the campaign.
Villavicencio had recently reported being threatened by the leader of a drug trafficking gang, and two other candidates have been killed in the past few months.
