The president’s office said in a statement that the Dominican Republic’s Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, the son of a former president, was shot dead in his office on Monday by a close friend. .
Authorities said Orlando Jorge Mira was shot dead by detained Miguel Cruz. Officials did not say any possible motive and it was not immediately clear if Cruz had a lawyer.
Jorge came from a powerful political family. He is the son of former Dominican President Salvador Jorge Blanco and his sister a deputy minister in the Abenader administration. Jorge’s son is a deputy from the Modern Revolutionary Party, of which he is a founding member.
The family released a statement saying that Cruz had been friends with Jorge since childhood, and that Jorge had been injured multiple times, according to the Associated Press.
Police and emergency officials crowded into the office of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in the capital, Santo Domingo, and denied entry to it while mourners gathered nearby.
Jorge’s office is located on the fourth floor of a building that also houses the Ministry of Tourism.
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