Chilean police on Thursday shot dead a judicial worker who entered the Court of Appeal of Arica in the northern region of Arica and Parinacota and attacked workers with a knife, leaving one of them seriously injured.
The incident happened this morning. The attacker was on psychiatric leave but was scheduled to return to work this Thursday. When he entered the court grounds, he spoke with the caretaker. At that moment, he pulled out a knife and stabbed his colleague, attempting to do the same to other employees who tried to stop him. A video shared on social networks shows the suspect running across the second floor of the building from which he tried to escape, knife in hand. But then several gunshots were heard.
Mario Carrera, the district attorney for Arica and Parinacota, said the subjects were killed by Carabineros and gendarmerie personnel who were present in the courtroom. “We had a person who had mental health problems and lost his mind, and this actually happens at work, in this case among colleagues,” the persecutor admitted to journalists.
The attacker was identified as Juan Verdejo, who was employed in February 2025 and worked in the administrative department of the Arica Court of Appeals. The victim was in critical condition with three stab wounds. Prosecutor Carrera’s last report was that he was stable in an Arica hospital.
Deputy Governor Julio Ceballos, head of the Arica Murder Brigade, pointed out that so far 16 shell casings belonging to firearms belonging to military police and carabineros have been recovered.
This incident also affected Chile. One of Chile’s biggest public concerns is the rise of organized crime in the South American country, which has fueled crimes such as kidnapping, extortion and street violence.
Just two days ago, Chileans were shocked when a man killed his partner and injured their two children, aged 4 and 7, in the municipality of Meripilla, in the Santiago metropolitan area. The perpetrator then took his own life. And this week, the body of a 25-year-old girl who had been missing since October 25 was also discovered in the city of La Pintana, south of the capital. A 33-year-old man was detained on suspicion of murder and had a police history of trafficking in trace amounts of drugs.
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