Note – Several details have been updated in this article according to new police reports. This story was updated May 19, to include a correct name for the Lebanese homicide victim, whose name is not Akleh, as originally reported, but Akl, according to new police reports.

A shootout this morning involving two cars, two dead men, two at-large suspects, and two aids on motorcycles outside a private school in Guachipelin. Escazu, a district west of San José, Costa Rica, has caused a tragic and upsetting start to the week for many in the country’s densely populated Central Valley.

A 6-year-old boy, a student at Mount View School where the shooting occurred just outside the front gate, was injured by a car which caught fire and a stray bullet during the shootout, and remains hospitalized. No further medical reports were made available.

“There is a minor … who was affected by the shooting and events. This minor was inside the institution and was hit by the white Lexus 4×4 vehicle (Driven by Elias Akl) but also had a bullet impact to his back. He was transferred to the Children’s Hospital and at the moment we do not know his state of health,” explained Espinoza.

The shootout occurred shortly after 7:00 a.m. right at the school entrance, meaning many students and families witnessed the violent event. The road on the heavily developed stretch of road heading north from Rte. 27 towards Guachipelín from Construplaza was blocked off in the wake of the event, causing severe disruptions to the already stressful rush hour traffic.

Police remain on the lookout for two suspects who assassinated Lebanese national, Elias Akl, and Costa Rican national, 23-year-old Angel Amado Blanco Hidalgo, who appears to have served as a bodyguard to Elias Akl.

Ziad Akl, Elias’s brother was arrested on separate charges when he attempted to flee the country at the international airport in San José the day of the shooting.

According to information presented this morning by Walter Espinoza, OIJ director, the assassins were posing as two people doing exercise, and this allowed them to get up close to the cars without drawing attention and then be able to shoot at close range.

“It essentially happened like this: Two cars head to school … and when the vehicles approach the school, two men who were near a parking lot doing exercise approach the vehicles and start firing at them,” explained Espinoza.

The incident occurred while Akl was taking his  6 year old daughter to school, and according to witnesses, the assassins were dressed in sportswear and doing exercise near the school, said Espinoza. The Lebanese man’s daughter was uninjured in the attack, said OIJ reports.

Elias Akl proceeded to drive his car, a white Lexus, inside the school property and died in it after his car caught fire. Meanwhile Blanco, who was riding separately as a passenger in a black Honda Pilot, was also shot and managed to drive the car to Santa Ana police station where he died upon arriving, ostensibly from the bullet wounds, continued the OIJ report.

The suspects escaped when two men picked them up on motorcycles and fled the scene, said witnesses.

About six weeks ago, Blanco Hidalgo was arrested by police for illegal firearm possession, and then released.

“Blanco Hidalgo had three weapons seized on March 30, 2017 in front of the Bar Mi Parcela, at the intersection of Llorente de Tibás. One of Blanco Hidalgo’s pistols had its serial number erased with a file. That same night, in another vehicle, and at the same time, in an Audi, other weapons were seized, for a total of eight,” said Carlos Hidalgo, spokesman for the Public Security Ministry.

Mount View Educational Center reassured families that everything was “under control and all students are safe and protected,” on their Facebook page.

The vehicle driven by Akl was a white Lexus 4×4, license plate BLX796 and owned by ScotiaBank, and the black Honda, driven by Blanco Hidalgo, was a 4×4, license plate BCZ209 and registered in the name of La Pequeña de Garabito, Sociedad Anónima.

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