The killing of a Chilean diplomat's teenage daughter by police is reigniting concerns among Venezuelans about excessive force by officers and their alleged involvement in rampant violent crime.
Nineteen-year-old Karen Berendique was riding in a vehicle with her older brother and another young man when police at a checkpoint opened fire early Saturday in the western city of Maracaibo, said her father Fernando Berendique, Chile's honorary consul in the city.
He said they ignored a police command to stop, fearing the officers might be robbers.
Twelve police officers were detained in the case and are under investigation, the Justice Ministry said.
Radio program host Beatriz Navas said on Sunday that many Venezuelans are concerned about police abuse and officers' involvement in violent crime.
"I wouldn't have stopped and they would have killed me, too," Navas said. She also criticized the widespread police practice in Venezuela of setting up such checkpoints, saying police should instead be investigating crimes.
President Hugo Chavez's government expressed condolences to the family as well as to the Chilean government, and pledged that those responsible will face justice.
"We reject and repudiate this type of bad police practice," judicial police chief Jose Humberto Ramirez said.
He said the officers had been in the area to investigate car thefts and hadn't set up cones as police typically do for checkpoints. Ramirez called the shooting inexplicable.
The 19-year-old daughter of a Chilean diplomat in Venezuela has been killed by police at a road checkpoint.
Consul Fernando Berendique in the western city of Maracaibo says his daughter, Karen, was shot early Saturday while riding in a vehicle with her brother and another young man.
He says the trio ignored a command to stop by police at the checkpoint, fearing the officers might be robbers. Violent crime is widespread in Venezuela.
The Prosecutor General's Office says in a statement that 11 police officers are under investigation for their roles in the death. It says the victim died after suffering three bullet wounds.
Judicial police chief Jose Humberto Ramirez condemns the shooting and what he calls "bad police practices."
NYDailyNews
And the world knows about this because she's a consul's daughter, 'cause if she wasn't........
but I think this is a tragedy for Venezuela too.