Three weeks ago, I reported the details of the massacre in the Guru bar in Envigado, a suburb to the south of Medellin. Two gunmen had stood before the crowded venue and opened fire, killing eight patrons and leaving 13 wounded (original reports spoke of 26 injured). According to survivors, both assassins had a gun in each hand, firing them simultaneously as if in a Hollywood film. Police later confirmed that the perpetrators had used high caliber “police killer” ammunition, which can traverse bulletproof jackets. The latest news is that the killers themselves were murdered in the gritty La Sebastiana neighborhood of Envigado, only two days after the Guru shooting.

That the gunmen were eliminated is nothing surprising in the world of Colombian organized crime. In this particular case, it may have been their own bosses who ordered them disposed of, as the hit they had been sent on was botched: the intended victim, known by the nickname of El Gordo, had escaped unharmed and the large number of innocent victims were mowed down by their bullets, which has drawn heat from the Colombian government, promising to clamp down on gangs in the Medellin area. El Gordo, a member of alias Sebastian’s organization, apparently threw himself on the floor and crawled to safety among tables as bullets rained into the Guru bar.

Local reports now say that the Guru bar incident was part of a string of retaliatory murders following the interception of a cocaine shipment by authorities in the United States. The cocaine in question is said to have been the property of old Pablo Escobar era traffickers which Colombian intelligence had lost track of over the years. It was one of these traffickers, Pacho Correa, who ordered the guru hit to avenge the execution of his son for his role in the loss of the cargo. Previously, the Colombian press had said the massacre was the result of a feud between rival gang bosses, Sebastian and Valenciano.

Interestingly, the Guru bar’s owner has changed its name in an attempt to distance it from the incident, but has not closed the business. The federal government has promised to send extra police officers to patrol the streets of Envigado, but if you stroll the city’s streets now, they are as devoid of any police presence as ever! The ongoing war between major drug trafficking gangs in this area has not ended, so if you happen to be in any bar or restaurant, be mindful of who’s sitting at the next table and of any high cylinder motorcycle with two men on it that might pull up. Note that Medellin and several communities in the Aburra valley have laws prohibiting two males from riding the same motorcycle, but this seems to not have deterred assassins from using their favorite mode of transportation.

* Sebastian, aka Erick Vargas, is in prison, awaiting extradition to the USA.