Suspected Costa Rican hit man violently murdered near San José

https://twitter.com/PoliciadeCR/status/652506888479739904

A suspected hit man was killed Friday morning after being picked up by a taxi at a relative’s house in San Francisco de Dos Ríos, southeast of San José. Four men armed with AK-47s blocked the cab with their black SUV and fired up to 100 rounds at the car.

The man was identified by a spokesperson from the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) as Dennis Omier Taylor of Limón. Police said that a 30-year-old woman thought to be the man’s wife and the taxi driver were seriously injured in the attack.

The video below, which has been circulating on social media networks and since been legitimated by authorities, apparently shows security footage of masked men getting out of a vehicle before firing several rounds into the red taxi. According to the video’s timestamp, the shootings occurred at 8:36 a.m. Friday.

Authorities said around 100 shell casings where found at the scene of the crime. Some 800 meters from there, investigators found the abandoned black SUV partially burned in a presumed attempt to hide evidence.

The woman, only identified by the last name Sawyers, was shot in the back and the 43-year-old taxi driver came away with bullet wounds in his face, chest, and right elbow, according to police.

This marks the 147th drug-related murder in the country in the past nine months, according to OIJ. Most of the murders have occurred in Limón province and in the San José suburb of Desamparados, according to police statistics. The district of San Francisco de Dos Ríos is located on the northern border of the Desamparados canton.

Authorities said they believed Taylor was a hit man from Limón who went by the nickname “Tupac.”