José C. Paz: municipal government demands Kicillof address security after Ojeda Vázquez murder

The murder of David Elías Ojeda Vázquez

David Elías Ojeda Vázquez, known as “Tito” to those close to him, was murdered on a Monday night in José C. Paz as he was arriving home. According to La Nación, he had left a gym at 9:20 p.m. and eight minutes later, on Polonia Street between Piñero and Matheu, two criminals attacked him. They shot him in the back, forcing him to stop, and stole his motorcycle.

The same source specifies that investigators from the José C. Paz Subdirectorate of Investigations accessed videos voluntarily provided by neighbors and were able to see the moment of the crime and reconstruct part of the attackers’ subsequent route. It remains to be determined in which home they took refuge or whether they stored the motorcycles there and then fled on foot. So far, that is the main lead.

The article also notes that investigators did not find images that would allow them to see the faces of the attackers. A neighbor who crossed paths with them near the place where Ojeda Vázquez fell wounded also could not recognize their features because they were wearing helmets.

The Municipality’s demand to Kicillof

The Municipality of José C. Paz demanded this Wednesday that Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof reinforce security after the murder. The statement was released on X during the same afternoon that friends and neighbors of the victim marched through the district’s downtown area and gathered in front of the municipal headquarters to demand justice and stronger crime prevention measures.

“Given the seriousness of what happened, we demand that the Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, reinforce security throughout the entire territory of the Province of Buenos Aires and especially in our district,” the municipality said in the document, signed by interim mayor Lorena Espina and the district’s General Director of Security, Miguel Narváez.

The municipality stated that “immediate actions” are needed and pointed out that, in the context of Ojeda Vázquez’s murder, the provincial government must assume “total and complete responsibility” for the security of the district’s residents. The authorities also expressed their “deep sorrow” over the death and conveyed their solidarity to the family.

They also defended the resources the local administration allocates to security: “The municipality continues to make an enormous effort with its own resources,” they stated. According to their details, the district has more than 250 officers and 70 vehicles from the Municipal Urban Patrol, in addition to the camera monitoring system of the Municipal Operations Center (COM). They also highlighted daily operations with the participation of municipal personnel, traffic officers, and police, as well as the provision of fuel and the repair of patrol cars to sustain the operation of the Buenos Aires Province Police.

The residents’ march and the differences between sources

According to La Nación, this Wednesday, a few hours after the burial of Ojeda Vázquez’s remains, his friends and neighbors marched through the downtown streets of José C. Paz and gathered in front of the municipality to demand justice and stronger security measures. During the demonstration, in which tires were burned, participants carried signs with the young man’s image and demands for the capture of those responsible.

La Derecha Diario reports on the same march and the same crime, but introduces an attribution that does not appear in La Nación: it claims that Kirchnerist mayor Mario Ishii blamed Axel Kicillof. That source does not provide the text of that statement or specify when or how it occurred. In contrast, La Nación attributes the statement to interim mayor Lorena Espina and General Director of Security Miguel Narváez, and does not mention statements by Ishii.

Both sources agree that there was a residents’ march, that the crime occurred, and that the demand focused on security. They differ in identifying the political figure responsible for the municipal demand: one speaks of the Municipality as the institution signing the statement; the other mentions Mayor Ishii as the one who blamed Kicillof. Neither of the two alone allows confirming the entirety of what happened.

Verifiable data and a derived comparison

• Date of the crime: Monday night, according to La Nación.
• Time of leaving the gym: 9:20 p.m., according to La Nación.
• Eight minutes later, attack on Polonia Street between Piñero and Matheu, according to La Nación.
• Two criminals, shot in the back, motorcycle stolen, according to La Nación.
• Municipal statement released on X on Wednesday, signed by Lorena Espina and Miguel Narváez, according to La Nación.
• Residents’ march on Wednesday, with tire burning and signs, according to La Nación.
• More than 250 officers and 70 vehicles from the Municipal Urban Patrol, according to the municipality cited by La Nación.

Value module: derived comparison. Document: statement from the Municipality of José C. Paz cited by La Nación. Agency and date: Municipality of José C. Paz, Wednesday after the crime. Unit: officers and vehicles of the Municipal Urban Patrol. Values used: more than 250 officers and 70 vehicles. Operation: officer-to-vehicle ratio = 250 / 70 ≈ 3.57. That is, according to the numbers the municipality itself released, there would be about 3.6 officers for each Municipal Urban Patrol vehicle. The denominator is the number of vehicles reported. The figure “more than 250” is a floor, so the real quotient could be somewhat higher. No unit or currency is converted because the material does not provide exchange rates or conversion factors.

What’s next in the investigation and the demand

It is appropriate to follow the Buenos Aires provincial government’s formal response to the municipal request, as well as clarification on the authorship of the statement and the remarks attributed to Mario Ishii. It is also worth watching whether the investigation advances in identifying the attackers based on the videos provided by neighbors and whether the home where they allegedly stored the motorcycles is confirmed. The case remains in the investigation stage and none of the sources consulted allows stating that those responsible have been arrested.