“Colombian protest leader Lucas Villa, who was shot eight times, dies”, 11 May 2021

...Colombian student activist Lucas Villa was declared brain dead Monday night, nearly a week after he was shot eight times at a peaceful protest against President Ivan Duque's government, CNN Espanol reported, citing a statement from San Jorge de Pereira University Hospital where he was being treated...The 37-year-old was one of three students shot by unknown gunmen on motorcycles at a demonstration on the evening of May 5 in Pereira, central Colombia...Duque commented on the protester's death on Twitter writing: "We stand with the Villa family with deep sadness after the news of Lucas' death. I repeat what I [said to] Mauricio, his father, that this becomes the opportunity to come together and reject violence. To the responsible [I wish] all the power of the law”...The government is offering a reward of 100 million Colombian pesos ($27,000) in exchange for any "information to capture those responsible," Minister of Defense Diego Molano wrote on Twitter, before expressing "all our commitment to finding those guilty for this atrocious crime”...Videos of anti-riot policemen using tear gas and batons against protesters have gone viral on social media, spreading beyond big cities and across the country. Far from curbing the protests, alleged police brutality has become a focal point for the demonstrators, who are now calling for an independent, international inquiry into the deaths…[R]ights groups such as the Colombia-based NGO Temblores and US-based Human Rights Watch believe the death toll to be higher and say more than 45 people have died...