A medical office secretary in Villalba was shot and wounded by a patient, who then took his own life Monday morning at the clinic on kilometer 2.5 of road PR-547 in the Aceituna neighborhood. Police were alerted around 8:06 AM after two clients and employees fled to take shelter in a church. Daniel Justiniano, inspector and director of the Criminal Investigations Corps (CIC) of Ponce, said the woman was taking the man’s vital signs when he shot her and then shot himself.
The dead man was identified as Ángel Javier Colón Torres, 61, who worked as a crane operator and held a firearms license; investigators have not yet determined whether the weapon used was legally registered. Justiniano said the man and the 49-year-old victim had a friendship, and that the man had been stalking her even after she suspended her social media and ended the friendship.
The femicide protocol was activated for the investigation. Villalba mayor Danny Santiago Núñez said he is praying for those affected by the tragedy. Agent Francisco Meléndez, assigned to the Homicide Division of the CIC of Ponce, and prosecutor Melissa Rodríguez are in charge of the investigation.