Mario Pineida: Ecuador defender shot dead outside shop in Guayaquil, aged 33 | OneFootball

Ecuador defender Mario Pineida has died after being shot in Guayaquil.

According to yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, he was attacked on Wednesday outside a shop in the north of the city when two people on motorbikes opened fire, injuring Pineida, his mother and another woman.

Ecuador’s interior ministry sent a special police unit to investigate, and the area around a shop called ServiCarnicos was cordoned off.

Guayaquil has seen a sharp rise in gang violence and drug trafficking. Between January and September the city recorded 1,900 murders, the highest number in the country.

In September, three players from Ecuador’s second division were killed, and another local footballer was wounded in a shooting last month.

Pineida won nine caps for Ecuador between 2014 and 2021. He began at Independiente del Valle, joined Barcelona SC in 2016, and had loans at Fluminense and El Nacional.

Barcelona SC were officially notified of his death after the attack, and the club expressed deep sorrow across the institution and its wider family.

No arrests had been made at the time of publication.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk