public safety

5 shot in gang-related violence

Five people were wounded by gunfire early Monday morning after gang violence erupted during the first celebrations of the Independence Day holiday.

The shootings took place at Via España, and at Auto Depot on Vía Domingo Díaz.

The exact reasons behind the skirmishes are not yet clear, but preliminarily reports from police indicate that the violence was gang-related.

At Via España, Joel Isaac González, Cristóbal Paz, Jorge Noriega and Franklin de Gracia, were wounded, while José Vásquez was wounded at Auto Depot.

All the victims were taken to Hospital Santo Tomás where they remain under strict medical surveillance.

As a result of these incidents, police arrested several suspects and seized a .22-caliber pistol, but would not comment further about the case.

Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro said that the organizers of the events will be fined because they allowed the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public areas.

In an unrelated incident, taxi driver Miguel Moreno Ortiz, 23, was shot Saturday night in a robbery attempt. Police have not arrested anyone in connection with that case.

Police also reported six traffic fatalities since the holiday weekend began Friday, bringing the country's total number of traffic-related fatalities to 364 so far this year.