Iquique military school shooting
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17:30
| Iquique military school shooting | |
|---|---|
| Location | Armored Cavalry School, Iquique, Chile |
| Date | 16 March 2019 17:30 |
Attack type | Double murder, school shooting, murder-suicide |
| Weapon | Service rifle |
| Deaths | 3 (including the perpetrator) |
| Perpetrator | Marco Velásquez González |
| Motive | Depression, retaliation for bullying |
On 16 March 2019, 18-year-old Chilean cadet Marco Antonio Velásquez González opened fire on his superiors at the Armored Cavalry School in Iquique, Chile with his service rifle, killing two people before committing suicide as well. Velásquez had frequently suffered bullying from his peers and superiors at the school, and was diagnosed with depression, having even attempted to commit suicide once previously. The incident has served as an extreme example of the consequences of physical, mental and sexual abuse in the Chilean military, both by soldiers and higher-ups.[1]
Marco Antonio Velásquez González was born in Iquique[2] to Marco Velásquez, a bus driver, and Claudia González, a hairdresser.[3] He originally applied to join military training when he was just 17, but had been turned down due to failing his psychological exams.[3] He finally joined the army in April 2018.[4]
Throughout recent years, many cases had come out about frequent abuses of young cadets in the Chilean Armed Forces, including routine beatings, stabbings, and rapes.[3] He suffered frequent bullying during his training, often getting into fistfights that were there recorded and uploaded online. At one point, various classmates of his made up a rumor that he had stolen several cell phones, something that they allegedly knew that was false, as an excuse to beat him up with large sticks.[3]
Velásquez had apparently shown multiple signs of depression, including a suicide attempt in December 2018, when he put his service rifle in his mouth and was preparing to shoot himself, but a fellow conscript found him in the act and talked him down.[3] As such, he was subject to professional evaluations and from both military institutions and the Psychiatric Unit of the Regional Hospital of Iquique, where he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder.[3] He was discharged on December 24, 2018, spending Christmas at his parents' house. No further measures were taken.[5] His army superiors refused to discharge him, believing him to be exaggerating his symptoms.[6]