At least seven people were killed in a pool hall shooting in the Ecuadorian city of Santo Domingo, police said on Sunday, marking the latest in a string of bloody massacres as gang violence grips the country.
Security camera footage circulating online — not yet independently verified — appears to show several attackers in black masks opening fire on two men at the entrance before storming inside and shooting indiscriminately. The assailants fled moments before a police vehicle arrived.
The attack follows a similar massacre last month in the coastal city of General Villamil Playas, where nine people were gunned down at another pool hall.
Once known as one of Latin America’s more peaceful nations, Ecuador has become engulfed in violence fueled by drug cartels using its ports to traffic cocaine to the US and Europe.
The homicide rate has soared from six per 100,000 people in 2018 to 38 per 100,000 in 2024, according to official data.
