Teenager who shot Columbian senator Miguel Uribe Turbay sentenced to 7 years

A 15-year-old boy has been sentenced to seven years in juvenile detention for shooting Colombian presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay at a rally in Bogotá in June.

The conservative senator, who was 39, underwent multiple surgeries after being hit by three bullets but died on 11 August.

The teenager was charged with attempted murder and the illegal possession on firearms.

After years of growing peace, the shooting shocked Colombians, who still remembered the political violence of the 1980s and 90s when several presidential candidates and influential Colombian figures were assassinated.

Uribe was shot in the head at a campaign rally on 7 June, with unverified video of the assassination widely circulated online.

Local media reports suggest that after he was arrested, he cried out: “I did it for money for my family.”

The senator was a popular member of the right-wing Democratic Centre party, and had been seeking his party’s nomination for the 2026 presidential election.

His father, Miguel Uribe Londoño, announced his own presidential campaign earlier this week, in what he said was an effort keep his son’s legacy alive.

Uribe Londoño was a member of Bogotá’s city council in the late 80s and a senator for Colombia’s Conservative Party in the early 90s.

During that time period, several presidential candidates and influential Colombian figures were assassinated, including Uribe’s own mother, journalist Diana Turbay.

She was kidnapped by Los Extraditables in 1990 – an alliance created by leading drug lords. She was held hostage by them for five months before being shot dead during a botched rescue attempt.

Uribe often cited her as his inspiration to run for political office “to work for our country”.