Ecuador: 8 people killed in shooting outside nightclub

Santa Lucia: Eight people were killed and two others were injured in a shooting outside a nightclub in southwestern Ecuador, police said on Sunday.

Police Colonel Javier Chango told a press conference that seven people died at the scene, and another died in the hospital.

The attack took place in Santa Lucia, a town with a population of 38,000 in the Guayas — one of the four provinces under a two-month state of emergency decreed earlier this week by President Daniel Noboa to combat gang violence.

What else do we know about the shooting?
Chango said the gunmen arrived in two pickup trucks and opened fire on the crowd drinking outside the Napoles nightclub at 1:15 a.m. local time (0615 GMT).

After the attack, they fled along an "unknown route," Chango said. Police also found 800 cartridge cases at the scene.

Among the dead was the nightclub owner Jorge Urquizo, the brother of Santa Lucia's mayor. 

The police have not determined a motive for the shooting.

"We are open to all hypotheses; we can't rule any out yet," said Chango.

Ecuador closed the first half of 2025 with 4,619 homicides — a 47% increase compared to the same period last year.