JAKARTA - A man was arrested by the security forces after trying to shoot Argentine Vice Presidentdez de Kirchner from close range outside his home in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
The video of the incident shows the vice president smiling as he walks through a crowd. A man in the crowd then swerved forward, pointing a gun at Fernández de Kirchner's face and appeared to be trying to shoot.
No bullets were fired, while urinary was shot in the back, unharmed.
The attacker was immediately arrested, after several seconds of confusion and panic. Argentina's official news agency, Télam, identified the man as a Brazilian named Fernando Andre Sabag Montiel.
Argentina's Ministry of Security confirmed that the weapon used in the incident was a 380 caliber firearm with bullets inside.
Meanwhile, President Alberto Fernández revealed the gun was loaded with five bullets, but failed to shoot when triggered, as quoted by the BBC.
"Cristina is still alive because, for some reason we can't technically confirm at the moment, the weapon, which was loaded with five bullets, didn't shoot even though it was pulled," President Alberto Fernández said in a television broadcast.
🇦🇷 Video footage (another angle) shows the moment Argentina’s VP Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner narrowly avoided assassination after a gunman’s weapon failed to fire while he was pointing a gun in her face. She was unharmed.AJ pic.twitter.com/BhAANpcJlW
— 𝚁𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙰𝙶𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚂𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚅𝙰𝙲𝙲𝙸𝙽𝙴 (@72powpow) September 2, 2022
He called the assassination attempt an attack on democracy, saying, "We must eradicate hatred and violence from the media and our political discourse."
The President declared Friday a national holiday for the country to unite in supporting Fernández de Kirchner.
Fernádez de Kirchner is one of Argentina's most prominent political figures, having served as President from 2007 to 2015, before serving as vice president in 2019.
His supporters have been holding demonstrations outside his home for several days, in response to the ongoing trial, in which he was accused of corruption during his tenure as President.
Argentina has been rocked by demonstrations this summer, with thousands taking to the streets protesting government management on charges of soaring inflation and corruption.
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