The Colombian presidential candidate was shot three times in a campaign in the capital Bogota – twice said.
Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was attacked while speaking to a small crowd in the park on Saturday. Local media said police arrested a 15-year-old suspect at the scene.
His wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, called on the state to pray for his survival. “Miguel is currently fighting for his life. Let’s ask God to guide the doctor who is treating him,” she said.
Uribe’s central Democratic Party condemned the attack, saying it “has endangered the lives of political leaders… democracy and freedom in Colombia.”
The phone footage shared online seemed to show the moment he was shot in the middle of his remarks, prompting those who gathered to panic.
Medical staff said he had been shot in his knee and twice in the head, according to AFP. He was airlifted to Sant FE clinic where supporters gathered outside for a vigil.
The left-wing presidential government Gustavo Petro said it was “absolutely, powerfully” condemning the attack as “violent acts not only against his people, but against democracy.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the shooting as a “direct threat to democracy.”
Uribe announced the candidate for the presidential election next October.
He comes from a prominent political family in Colombia and has ties to the country’s Liberal Party. His father was a trade union leader and businessman.
His mother was Diana Turbay, a journalist who was killed in 1991 by rescue attempts because she was kidnapped by Pablo Escobar at the time of the Medellin Drugs Cartel.
