Hours after the attack on Cristina Kirchner, on Thursday night (1st), police carried out an operation in one of the residences of Brazilian Fernando Andrés Sabag Montiel, 35, who tried to shoot the Argentine vice president in the face as she arrived. at home in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
According to the newspaper La Nación, Montiel lived in a rented apartment in San Martín, in the Argentine capital’s metropolitan area, where authorities seized an HP notebook and 100 9-millimeter bullets. The projectiles were stored in two boxes and will be examined by investigators.
The weapon Montiel used in the episode is a 32-caliber Bersa automatic pistol, which had five rounds in the magazine and the numbering partially shaved off. The images indicate that he would have pulled the trigger, but the weapon failed.
At first, the police thought that the shooter lived in the La Paternal neighborhood, where he carried out an operation during the early hours of this Friday (2). According to the Argentine press, a tenant in Montiel said he was unaware of the aggressor’s opinions and movements.
“I took him as a normal boy, from the neighborhood, quiet. I never knew he was armed. He just came to get the money, we talked for two minutes and he left. stuck to this man,” he told the TN newspaper.
The authorities only arrived at the correct address after a man presented himself at the police station as the person responsible for renting a house in the San Martín neighborhood to the Brazilian approximately eight months ago. In testimony, the owner of the property said he recognized Montiel on television and informed that he never had problems with the Brazilian. He also said the man owns three vehicles he uses as taxis in Buenos Aires.
Fernando Andrés Sabag Montiel was arrested on Thursday night, shortly after trying to shoot Argentina’s vice president in the face. Footage shows Cristina being greeted by a crowd of supporters as she exits the car as he approaches within 1 meter of her with a pistol. According to the Argentine press, the Brazilian was wearing a cap and mask, and would have run away after trying to shoot, but was followed by five people, allowing agents to identify him.
Montiel will be transferred to the Comodoro Py Court in the morning, where he will testify to Judge María Eugenia Capuchetti, who is in charge of the case. In a telephone conversation with the magistrate, Argentine President Alberto Fernández asked that the life of the accused be preserved in order to quickly clarify responsibilities and facts.
On Friday morning, Capuchetti took the first steps to investigate the attack, which is being treated as an “attempted murder.”
Security Minister Aníbal Fernández informed that it is now up to the police to proceed with the investigation to assess “the capacity and willingness that this person had”. According to La Nación, a profile on social networks attributed to him, under the name Fernando Salim Montiel, followed several pages linked to radical groups and hate speech.
The Brazilian also had a criminal record. According to the newspaper Clarín, his passage by the police took place when he was stopped for driving without a license plate. At the time, he told authorities that she had fallen days before because of an accident. The agents then asked him to get out of the vehicle, and when the car door opened, a 35 centimeter-long knife fell to the ground. The Brazilian then stated that he used the object to defend himself and ended up being charged with carrying a weapon.
