By Miguel Rapetti
03 Sep 2023, 21:42 PM EDT
Defender Gilberto Hernández, a player of the Club Atlético Independiente de Panamá and member of the Central American team, was murdered this Sunday after receiving several bullet wounds in the public town of Colón.
According to reports from the Panamanian newspaper Crítica, Hernández was sharing with six people on the street when some unknown persons got out of a taxi and shot without contemplation at the group.
The seven members were shot and taken to a care center in the area, confirming hours later the death of the soccer player.
Hernández, who made his sporting debut in the Panamanian Soccer League in 2018 with CD Árabe Unido, had played as a defender for CAI since 2022, after being transferred that same year by Herrera FC
On March 12, he was called up to the national team, with which he played two games and participated in several microcycles under the direction of DT Thomas Christiansen.
Through X (formerly Twitter), Club Atlético Independiente reacted to the death of Hernández, regretting that he “in an isolated incident in the city of Colón, ended up dying.”
“We join the pain of their children, family and friends. He flies high, leader and two-time champion, ”the CAI highlighted in its condolences message.
The city of Colón, located on the shores of the Caribbean Sea and 80 kilometers north of Panama City, is one of the poorest and most troubled in the country and its streets witness constant fights between gangs, settling scores and homicides.