Security Guard Shot Dead in Escazú

Two assailants shot and killed a security guard Tuesday morning at Santa Bárbara hardware store in shopping center of Escazú, a suburb southwest of San José, the Judicial Investigative Police said.

The victim was 45 years old and of Nicaraguan origin, a police statement said, offering only his last name, Risso.

According to a preliminary police report, burglars armed with pistols entered the Bello Horizonte mall at 11 a.m. As they tried to reach the second floor, they were intercepted by the security guard. Risso tried to stop them from passing, and he was shot in the head, dying before Red Cross workers arrived on the scene.

Once outside the mall, the assailants escaped in a vehicle, the report said, noting the guard thwarted the theft as nothing was taken from the mall.