A man who briefly stepped outside a gang-related court hearing to repair a flat tire narrowly escaped death on Monday when attackers fired more than 60 bullets into his vehicle at a gas station in Pueblo Nuevo, Panama City. Prosecutors believe the victim, Melquiades Pliscett, was mistaken for a relative of a rival gang member involved in the court proceedings.
What Happened
According to testimony revealed during a hearing on Wednesday at the Sistema Penal Acusatorio (SPA) facilities at Plaza Ágora on Simón Bolívar Avenue, Pliscett had been sitting in the public gallery of a pandillerismo (gang activity) hearing. During a recess, he went to check on his improperly parked gray Hyundai Accent and noticed that two tires were low on air.
He drove roughly 800 meters — about three minutes by car — to a gas station also on Simón Bolívar Avenue. After parking, he asked an employee for tools to lift the vehicle. That decision likely saved his life: moments later, multiple gunshots rang out, and Pliscett realized his car was the target. The vehicle sustained a total of 60 bullet impacts.
Two plainclothes National Police officers who were refueling their own vehicle at the station immediately gave chase. The pursuit continued along the Transístmica highway to a turnaround just before the Gran Estación de San Miguelito, where the attackers turned back toward the city center and eventually onto Frangipani road. During the chase, the suspects threw several firearms out of the car windows; police recovered two pistols. The vehicle was finally intercepted by police on Avenida de los Mártires, near the Bingos Nacionales, apparently heading toward El Chorrillo.
Authorities ordered the detention of 18-year-old Johan Martínez, who was charged with attempted homicide, illicit association to commit crimes, and illegal possession of firearms. A minor was also detained in connection with the case.
Background
The Homicide and Femicide Prosecutor’s Office attributes the attack to disputes between rival gangs. According to information presented during the hearing, Pliscett was apparently confused with relatives of a member of a rival gang who was participating in the accusation hearing at the SPA.
Gang violence has become a persistent security concern in Panama. The National Police have identified it as a driving factor behind many of the homicides and attacks recorded this year. In May, police director Jaime Fernández told La Prensa that authorities had identified 121 gang groups linked to or subordinate to eight larger criminal structures. These smaller groups, he explained, are used to control territory, move and guard drugs, and carry out killings.
Fernández also drew attention to the sheer volume of gunfire used in some attacks. Referring to an earlier crime in which a vehicle was struck by more than 70 bullets, he said such a number of detonations was not normal and suggested that some episodes of extreme violence may be linked to messages, retaliations, and disputes between criminal structures.
What This Means for Panama
The case underscores how Panama’s judicial processes themselves have become flashpoints for gang violence, with court hearings exposing participants and even bystanders to retaliation risks. The fact that the victim was allegedly targeted based on mistaken identity over a family connection highlights the indiscriminate nature of these disputes.
The swift police response — off-duty officers coincidentally at the scene initiating a pursuit that recovered weapons and ended in arrests — demonstrates the role of rapid reaction in disrupting such attacks. However, the volume of fire, echoing the 70-plus-shot attack referenced by the police director, points to the escalating intensity of gang confrontations.
With more than 120 identified gang groups operating under eight major criminal structures, cases like this one illustrate the scale of the challenge facing Panamanian authorities as they confront organized crime in Panama City and beyond.
This story was originally reported by La Prensa.