A journalist from Ecuador, who was taken hostage by armed individuals during the seizure of a Guayaquil TV station and forced to appear on camera at gunpoint, told Reuters on Wednesday that the experience was incredibly strange.
The armed individuals barged into a studio at public broadcaster TC on Tuesday carrying long-range guns, grenades, and dynamite, as part of a series of violent incidents that led President Daniel Noboa to designate 22 gangs as terrorist organizations to be targeted by the military.
The images from the channel’s live feed, which continued for about 20 minutes, shocked the country and made headlines around the world.
Journalist Jose Luis Calderon, 47, was present in the studio as his colleagues were broadcasting around 2 p.m. local time when the gunmen attacked, prompting screaming, gunshots, and people running outside in the hallway.
Calderon and some of his colleagues sought refuge in the bathroom when they heard the commotion. They attempted to call family members and police, but the gunmen overheard them and forced them to come out under threats. The attackers then took them and other colleagues hostage.
Calderon mentioned that some of the attackers, who appeared to be teenagers, threatened the staff with their guns. The gunmen claimed multiple times that they were linked to La Firma, a gang associated with the larger crime group Los Choneros, which was named as a terrorist organization by Noboa.
The recent escape of Los Choneros leader Adolfo Macias from prison over the weekend contributed to Noboa declaring a state of emergency on Monday.
Calderon described how the gunmen held a rifle to his head and placed dynamite in his jacket, coercing him to appear on the live feed and make statements to dissuade the police from intervening to save them.
Despite the two-hour ordeal, Calderon expressed feeling calm, knowing that calls to the police had already been made. However, tensions escalated when shots were heard outside and some colleagues pleaded for their lives.
Calderon mentioned that during the skirmish, the gunmen fired their guns, leading to a cameraman sustaining a leg injury from a ricocheting bullet. Another employee also suffered a broken arm.
Ultimately, the gunmen gave up, and 13 individuals were apprehended at the site. The detainees were presented to the media by police the following day.
Videos shared on social media depict the moment when the gunmen surrendered and the police took control, with some of the young men being escorted from the station by heavily armed police.
(Reporting by Yury Garcia and Herbert Villarraga in Guayaquil; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
