A Colombian presidential candidate, Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, was critically wounded in a brazen shooting at a campaign rally in Bogotá on June 7, 2025. As he exited a rally in Fontibón, an assailant on a motorcycle opened fire, striking him twice in the head and once in the chest. The target was Alexander’s grandson: Uribe’s mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped and murdered during Pablo Escobar’s reign of terror in the early 1990s .

The suspected gunman, a 15-year-old youth, was arrested at the scene. Uribe underwent emergency neurosurgery and remains in critical condition at Bogotá’s Santa Fe hospital (ft.com). His security team retaliated, injuring the attacker before his capture (ft.com).

President Gustavo Petro and international leaders, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, promptly condemned the attack, warning it echoes Colombia’s grim history of political assassinations. Colombia’s political class unanimously denounced the violence, calling for unity, strengthened security protections for candidates, and a firm repudiation of a return to past bloodshed .

The attempted assassination has reignited nationwide anxiety over rising political violence. It comes amid Uribe's 2026 presidential campaign as a member of the conservative Democratic Centre party. Leaders are urging all factions to step back from inflammatory rhetoric and protect democratic norms moving forward.