Crimeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Gunmen Shot Dead Former Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa In Guatemala City
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Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa was shot dead at a Guatemala City sports complex. Two gunmen opened fire during a football activity; Gustavo Adolfo Aguilar Gamarro also died.
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Former prosecutor killed
Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa, a Guatemalan lawyer and former anti-corruption prosecutor, was shot dead during a visit to the Campo Marte sports complex in Guatemala City on Saturday, and the attack also killed Gustavo Adolfo Aguilar Gamarro, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Bernardo Arevalo condemned the killing and wrote on his official X account, “I strongly condemn the cowardly murder of former prosecutor Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa,” adding that “Both the direct perpetrators and those who ordered the crime must face the full weight of the law.”
César Mateo confirmed the arrest of two men in connection with the case, and the Guatemalan police seized a carbine-style firearm and a motorcycle. Four armed men entered the playing field and fired several shots at Solórzano Foppa, 43, at close range, while another man also died and investigators were determining whether he was collateral damage.
Suspects, evidence, and timeline
At least two armed attackers burst into a football match and killed Solórzano Foppa, who was acting as coach of one of the teams, and it placed the attack about 30 or 40 meters from where police escorting him stood. Authorities collected 50 spent shell casings at the crime scene and the spokesperson for the Guatemalan National Civil Police (PNC), César Mateo, confirmed the arrest of two men traveling on a delivery-motorcycle.
The shooting occurred at approximately 9:40 a.m. local time on Saturday and police detained two men shortly after the attack, while the same report said investigators had not publicly established a motive. The suspects were identified as Rigoberto Choc Toz, 30, and Daniel Zaqueo Choc Toz, 28, and it stated that officers confiscated a carbine-style firearm and a motorcycle during the operation.
Why he was targeted
Solórzano Foppa was known for high-profile cases against powerful businessmen in Guatemala and for denouncing wrongdoing by powerful politicians, business leaders and companies, and it added that he had alleged a connection between the Barrio 18 gang and the National Unity of Hope party in 2025. Solórzano Foppa accused opposition members of maintaining ties with Aldo Ochoa, the head of the criminal gang Barrio 18, held in a high-security prison, and it described his latest posts as hypothesizing a possible incursion of CIA mercenaries supported by the Guatemalan army.
Solórzano Foppa was a strong critic of former Attorney General Consuelo Porras and pointed to by human rights groups and the government as the operator of the so-called 'pact of the crooks,' an alleged criminal network that includes politicians, businessmen, and organized crime. Solórzano Foppa wrote on social networks that “Those responsible, both the material and intellectual authors, must pay for it with the full weight of the law,” and it said he had denounced the escape of about two dozen Barrio 18 members from a maximum-security prison a year earlier.