International footballer shot dead aged 26 with seven others injured after gunmen open fire in horror attack

AN international footballer has been shot dead in his home country Panama.

Gunmen fired on a group of people including Gilberto Hernández, 26, 

The Club Atlético Independiente defender died and seven others were hurt.

Murders in the coastal resort of Colón have been rising as two gangs battle for control of drug-smuggling routes.

But it is not yet known if or why Hernández was specifically targeted.

A taxi driver was forced by two gunmen to take them to a building in Colon’s Barrio Norte neighbourhood on Sunday afternoon local time.

They then fired on the group assembled there.

The two men fled but a suspect was arrested in a flat close to the horrific scene.

Hernández’s father urged the killers to hand themselves in and said: “Don’t cause more harm.”

He also called on the city’s youngsters to “stop the violence”.

But he also asked authorities to do more.

He wants local bodies to “launch projects to save the youth from this violence”.

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