SAA event in Ecuador on Sun 28th December 2025

At least six people, including a young girl, have been killed after gunmen opened fire on a popular beach.At least six people, including a two-year-old girl, have been killed after gunmen opened fire on a popular beach in South America. The horrifying incident unfolded in Puerto Lopez, southwestern Ecuador, at around 9am local time on Sunday, police said. Multiple men with automatic weapons shot at a group of people in the city, killing six and injuring three others.Regional police commander Colonel William Acurio added that a girl aged "approximately two years old" was among the victims. He said the shooters then "fled" the scene. The suspects remain at large, though preliminary investigations suggest disputes between gangs sparked the incident.According to local media, the shooting came amid a wave of violent crime over the weekend, resulting in the deaths of nine people in Puerto Lopez.Earlier this month, former Ecuador international footballer Mario Pineida was killed in an armed attack in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city. One other person was killed and a third injured.In October, five people were shot dead at a pool hall in Santo Domingo in what police described as a gang-related dispute.Just one month prior, another attack at a pool hall saw seven people killed and four injured, marking one of the deadliest single shooting incidents in Ecuador this year.The South American country is estimated to end 2025 with a rate of 52 homicides per 100,000 residents, according to the Organised Crime Observatory.The homicide rate for the year ending March 2024 was approximately 9.5 per million in England and Wales.The government has declared states of emergency on multiple occassions over recent years in an attempt to crack down on crime, even deploying military forces to support police.