77-year-old American lawyer has been arrested in Panama after he was caught on camera shooting dead two environmental protesters blocking a highway. Reportedly the roadblocks have caused up to $80 million in daily losses to businesses and have shuttered schools nationwide for more than a week.Dramatic scenes were caught on camera when the grey haired man, looking irritated by the blockade on the Pan-American Highway approached the protestors and waved his finger. He was then seen arguing with them before he pulled out a gun and opened fire.
The graphic video that’s gone viral on the internet shows the man casually walking towards the protesters who were dancing with music and the takes out the gun from his pocket. In the visuals he seems to be threatening them with his gun and supposedly asking them to clear up, he then tries to clear the roads by removing the hurdles. He then argues with them and suddenly shoots dead two of them point blank.
The visuals then capture people trying to revive the two protestors gunned down by the man on the road in the Chame sector west of Panama City. However, one of them died even before the medical help arrived, while the second was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The gunman is then seen cuffed and taken to a squad car.
The shooter has been identified as Kenneth Darlington, 77, a lawyer and professor who holds dual citizenship in the US and Panama, according to Newsroom Panama and Agence France-Presse.
Panama President Laurentino Cortizo sent his condolences to the dead protesters’ families, saying that such a crime “has no place” in his nation’s supportive society.
The incident unfolded during the third week of protests over a large mining contract that allowed Canada-based First Quantum Minerals to operate the region’s largest pit copper mine for at least 20 more years.
