They Declare Guilty the "Individualist Tending to the Wild" for Explosive Attacks in the RM

Bus stops, universities and public administration: the targets of the "lone wolf" obsessed with bombings

Friday 09 August 2019 | 11:45

By Valentina González
The information is from Felipe Cornejo

Sebastian Brogca | ONE Agency
4,493 views

The South Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office described Camilo Gajardo Escalona as a "lone wolf" , the 28-year-old who was arrested for his alleged participation in at least six attacks with explosive devices in the Metropolitan region.

According to the investigation, Gajardo would be behind the preparation, placement and shipment of at least five "package bombs" that reached, among others, less than the former president of Codelco, Óscar Landerretche and the president of the Metro board, Louis de Grange.

It was in January 2017 when, after 6:00 p.m., an alleged “gift” that had arrived at Landeretche’s home in La Reina ended up exploding , causing minor injuries to the then-president of the state mining company.

The following year, in April, the headquarters of the Raúl Silva Henríquez University had to be evacuated due to a bomb warning. Carabineros found a cardboard box with a battery with cables and a copper tube.

Meanwhile, in September 2018, a box with a bottle and gunpowder was found at a Transantiago bus stop on Santa Rosa Avenue, in front of the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Chile.

On January 4, 2019, the capital experienced a new explosion , when an explosive device detonated at a Transantiago bus stop, leaving five people injured.

A few months later, in May of this year, the police managed to deactivate a bomb package addressed to the chairman of the Metro board, Louis de Granje.

After two years of investigation, the suspect is arrested

It was in the commune of Puente Alto where the operation carried out by the Carabineros OS-9 to arrest the alleged perpetrator of the explosive attacks was concentrated, after the South Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office requested his arrest warrant in the 20th Second Guarantee Court of Santiago.

Christopher Escobar | ONE Agency

It was the result of months of investigation carried out by the prosecution, with expert reports that intensified after the latest attacks on the 54th police station in Huechuraba and the package bomb received by the former Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, in his office in the district of Huechuraba. The Counts.

And it is that despite the fact that a "group" of anarchists was always targeted behind these attacks, the investigation of the Public Ministry has revealed that it would be a 28-year-old man, the only author behind a series of attacks since 2017 To the date.

Although there were attacks that were attributed by the eco-terrorist group Individualists Tending to the Wild, for the Prosecutor's Office it was a "lone wolf" , identified as Camilo Eduardo Gajardo Escalona.

Carabineros General Esteban Díaz explained that the procedure consisted of the arrest of the main suspect behind these attacks, as well as a search of his home to seize items that would link him to these crimes.

The police raid was carried out in the town of Atenas de Mena. At the scene, the police seized various elements linked to the making of explosive devices, without confirming whether it was a bomb with a possible future recipient.

The prosecutor in these cases, Héctor Barros, ruled out that the defendant is part of an anarchist group and emphasized that, based on the investigation, he would be the person behind the making and placement of these bombs.

Even so, the national prosecutor Jorge Abbott referred to his alleged link with ITS, pointing out that "they are organizations in which the behaviors are displayed by individual people and belong to a larger group, but they are not attached to an organization, but rather an idea ”.

Camilo Gajardo Escalona has three previous arrests since 2012, all related to the crime of public disorder.

During this day, Gajardo will be transferred to the Justice Center for his detention control in the evening block. At the moment, the South Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office has not ruled out requesting an extension of the detention, in order to carry out expert reports on the elements seized yesterday from his home and present them at the next formalization hearing, where he will face charges for the preparation, placement and shipment of explosive devices.

They declare guilty the "individualist tending to the wild" for explosive attacks in the RM

Friday 02 September 2022 | 10:05

By Felipe Delgado
With information from Daniela Forero-Ortiz.

Camilo Gajardo was found guilty of planting and sending explosive devices in the capital, under the group "Individualists Tending to the Wild." Among them are the explosives sent to Óscar Landerretche and Louis De Grange, as well as the placement of a bomb in a Transantiago bus stop.

The South Prosecutor's Office managed to get Camilo Gajardo Escalona convicted , who perpetrated various explosive attacks in the Metropolitan region that were claimed by the group "Individualists Tending to the Wild" (ITS).

The individual was charged with the crimes of sending and placing explosive devices between 2017 and 2019 in different parts of the capital. This after an investigation carried out together with the Carabineros OS9.

Gajardo was accused of the following facts:

1.- The device that detonated in the house of the then president of Codelco, Óscar Landerretche , on January 13, 2017, where the charges of frustrated homicide, injuries and damages are added.

2.- An explosive that detonated on a public transport bus in La Reina, on September 28, 2017.

3.- The placement of a bomb on a bench in front of the Raúl Silva Henríquez Catholic University (UCSH), on April 13, 2018. Here he is accused of frustrated homicide.

4.- The installation of another explosive in a bus stop in front of the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Chile in La Pintana, on September 7, 2018.

5.- The explosion of a device at a Transantiago bus stop in Vicuña Mackenna with Bilbao, on January 4, 2019, also with the accusation of frustrated homicide.

6.- The sending of an explosive package to the president of Metro, Louis De Grange , on May 5, 2019, which was found abandoned and did not reach its destination.

In the trial, Gajardo was found guilty in facts 1, 3, 5 and 6 , but not in facts 2 and 4 in which he was acquitted. In addition, terrorism was ruled out.

In this regard, Louis De Grange told Radio Bío Bío that after what happened he experienced “a period of great anguish, and it was difficult to understand why this was happening to me. Fortunately, I received a lot of love and support from many people, both from Metro and from Carabineros and the Prosecutor's Office. Today is part of the past, of the difficulties that all of us have to face”.

Gajardo risks more than 100 years in prison for what happened. Prosecutor Alex Cortez highlighted that in the explosion that affected Landerretche, the conviction for qualified frustrated homicide was achieved , the same as for the explosion in the bus stop of Vicuña Mackenna.

Meanwhile, Alejandra Rubio, Gajardo's public criminal defender, highlighted the acquittal obtained in two of the accused crimes. Along with this, she indicated that the legal qualification for the device installed at UCSH and the one directed at Louis De Grange was finally lowered.

As he pointed out, this will lower the penalty he could obtain, which will be announced on October 19. Only then, Rubio pointed out, will the steps to be followed be decided.

45 years in prison for subject who detonated bomb in Transantiago bus stop and who sent explosives

Wednesday, October 19, 2022 | 14:31

Posted by Felipe Delgado
The information is from Daniela Forero-Ortiz

Sebastian Beltran | ONE Agency
31,293visits

Camilo Gajardo, guilty of sending explosive devices and detonating a bomb at a Transantiago bus stop, was sentenced to 45 years and one day in jail for various crimes, including attempted murder.

Camilo Gajardo Escalona was sentenced to 45 years and one day in jail , who perpetrated several explosive attacks in the Metropolitan region and who were claimed by the group "Individualists Tending to the Wild" (ITS).

Gajardo was found guilty of various shipments and installations of bombs , all this between 2017 and 2019 in different parts of the Metropolitan region.

They declare guilty the "individualist tending to the wild" for explosive attacks in the RM

These are the following episodes:

1.- The device that detonated in the house of the then president of Codelco, Óscar Landerretche , on January 13, 2017.

2.- The placement of a bomb on a bench in front of the Raúl Silva Henríquez Catholic University (UCSH), on April 13, 2018.

3.- The explosion of a device at a Transantiago bus stop in Vicuña Mackenna with Bilbao, on January 4, 2019.

4.- The sending of an explosive package to the president of Metro, Louis De Grange , on May 5, 2019, which did not reach its destination.

Meanwhile, he was acquitted of the accusation for an explosive that detonated on a public transport bus in La Reina, on September 28, 2017; and for the installation of another explosive in a bus stop in front of the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Chile in La Pintana, on September 7, 2018.

The South Prosecutor's Office had requested more than 100 years in prison for Gajardo, given the various acts for which he was convicted, where charges of frustrated homicide were added.

Finally, the Sixth Oral Criminal Court of Santiago decreed 45 years and one day in jail for him. Prosecutor Alex Cortez pointed out that the conviction was achieved thanks to the large amount of evidence obtained together with OS9, Labocar and GOPE de Carabineros.

In the breakdown, he was given 20 years in prison in its maximum degree for all placements of explosive devices. Another 20 years more for the frustrated qualified homicides of the wounded in the home of Óscar Landerretche and in the bus stop of Vicuña Mackenna.

To this, another five years were added for the injuries in the last mentioned events.