A shooting at a public Christmas celebration in northern Peru killed Chicama councilwoman Elena Rojas and wounded several other people, including at least four children. Police opened an investigation, while preliminary reports said the attack appeared to target the local official.
Families had gathered in a town plaza in Chicama, in the coastal La Libertad region, for children’s performances and a planned gift distribution. Witnesses cited by Diario Correo said attendees were watching the program when two gunmen arrived on motorcycles and began firing.
Rojas was seen being placed in a vehicle after the attack. Later local reports said she died from her injuries. Media accounts identified her as the apparent target, but the supplied evidence contained no police confirmation of motive or explanation for why she may have been singled out.
At least four children attending the celebration suffered gunshot wounds, according to local reporting. Authorities had not confirmed the full number of people injured or their medical conditions. Early accounts suggested as many as nine victims, a figure that remained provisional.
Video from the plaza recorded panic after the shots. Bystanders carried at least one young woman away, apparently seeking transport to a hospital. The images documented the immediate response but did not identify either attacker.
No arrests had been announced. Investigators would need to examine footage, witness descriptions, ballistic evidence and Rojas’s public work to establish whether the killing was political, criminal or driven by another motive. The description of a targeted attack reflects local reports, not a final police finding.
Peru has experienced growing violent crime, including extortion and gang activity associated with drug trafficking and competition for territory. That context may guide investigative attention, but the packet did not connect the Chicama gunmen to a named organization or criminal network.
Two months earlier, shooters attacked the popular cumbia group Agua Marina during a concert in Lima, injuring six people, including four musicians. The incident intensified criticism of President Dina Boluarte and contributed to a congressional effort to remove her. It was a separate case and does not establish responsibility for the Chicama shooting.
The setting amplified the harm. A civic holiday event designed for families became the scene of a killing, with children among those wounded and local residents forced to organize emergency transport amid the confusion.
The most reliable account remains deliberately narrow: Rojas died after gunmen fired at the gathering; several others were wounded; witnesses described two motorcycle attackers; and police began investigating. The total casualty count, the identities of the shooters and their reason for attacking had not been officially resolved.
