A lone gunman on Monday stormed into a ministry weekly meeting and shot dead the Dominican Republic’s Environment Minister Orlando Jorge Mera.
“The information we have at the moment indicates that this (Monday) morning the environment minister lost his life after he was attacked with a firearm in his office,” said Homero Figueroa, the spokesman for the presidency.
“Miguel Cruz, who has been identified as the shooter, was a personal friend of the dead minister.”
Figueroa said Cruz was in police custody and that the reason for the murder was “under investigation.”
Cruz had gained access to a secure area through his friendship with Jorge Mera.
Jorge Mera, who was the son of former president Salvador Jorge Blanco (1982-86), was holding a regular meeting with his deputy ministers when he was shot.
There was a heavily armed elite police unit at the entrance of the ministry.
There are claims that Cruz was barricaded inside with hostages.The environment ministry said on Twitter it was “dismayed by the situation that took place this Monday morning, right now we do not have any details.”
