Cabo Primero Marcos Javier Cosme Barquero died on Saturday after three days in critical condition from a gunshot wound to the face during a police operation in Valdivia.
The 32-year-old officer, assigned to the GOPE unit in La Araucanía, was wounded on Wednesday, July 15, in the rural Punucapa sector while taking part in the arrest of Carlos Esteban Cancino Tapia, alias “El Rana.” The fugitive was linked to the 2020 homicide of Suboficial Mayor Eugenio Naín.
A second officer, Suboficial Roberto Canio Quilaleo, was wounded in the abdomen during the operation and has since been discharged. Cancino Tapia suffered wounds to the knee and neck and remains in custody.
Carabineros Director General Marcelo Araya declared institutional mourning and ordered flags at half-mast. President José Antonio Kast stated that the perpetrator “will spend the rest of his life in prison” and that those who protected him will also be investigated.
