US man shot, killed outside Jacó club

Updated at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29

A 38-year-old U.S. man was killed in the Pacific beach town of Jacó outside of a club early Wednesday morning, according to the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ). A friend confirmed the man was John Lonergan of Florida.

OIJ’s head of operations Michael Soto Rojas said Lonergan left the club with a woman at around 4:20 in the morning.

They were hailing a taxi when a man approached them and offered them drugs, Soto said. The couple declined and got in the taxi.

The man who tried to sell them drugs, who has yet to be identified, opened the door and tried to drag the woman out of the car, according to OIJ.

A fight brewed and the unidentified man pulled a gun and shot Lonergan twice. He died in a local clinic, according to OIJ. The gunman fled and had yet to be captured as of Wednesday evening.

Lonergan left behind a wife and two children, ages 3 and 13, according to his friend, who wished not to be identified.

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