The scene of the murder, in Mendoza (Photo: Alfredo Ponce/Télam)
Police are continuing to search for the killers of Nicholas Heyward, 31, a New Zealand tourist shot dead during an attempted robbery in Mendoza yesterday afternoon. So far, there have been no arrests or suspects identified.
Juan Carlos Caleri, police chief in Mendoza, said that officers were studying footage from security cameras in the area in the hope of identifying the perpetrators. According to state news agency Télam, police sources said there was no camera footage of the actual crime, but that they were looking at recordings from cameras nearby.
Caleri told a local radio station that they were also working with a description of the shooter provided by witnesses, according to the regional newspaper Los Andes. The police chief also confirmed that a $40,000 reward was being offered for specific information that would lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, the minister for security in Mendoza, Leonardo Comperatore, said earlier today that the province could seek to impose tighter regulations for two people riding on a motorbike, echoing those recently introduced in the province of Buenos Aires.
Heyward was shot while visiting the Parque General San Martín, in the city of Mendoza, around 1,000km west of Buenos Aires. He was walking with two other travellers – a woman from Australia and a French man – when two young males on a motorbike attempted to snatch his bag.
After a brief struggle, Heyward fell, and was shot four times in the neck and chest while on the ground. He died at the scene.
Authorities in Argentina are working with the New Zealand embassy to organise the repatriation of Heyward’s body.
The incident occurred near the entrance to the Malvinas Argentinas stadium, at around 3.40pm. The area is near the popular tourist attraction, Cerro de la Gloria, and the monument to the ‘Andean Army’. Heyward had arrived in Mendoza on Saturday, and was staying at the Itaka Hostel.
People who regularly use the park for walking, running, or cycling have called for a march on Saturday to protest the increasing crime problem in the area.
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