Quito, Ecuador — At least seven people were killed and four others wounded after gunmen opened fire at a pool hall in northern Ecuador, police said Saturday.
The attack took place late Friday in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas, about 130 kilometers west of Quito. Local police commander Col. Olga Benavides said the shooting was linked to an ongoing “territorial dispute” between rival criminal gangs.
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It was the second deadly pool hall shooting in the city in less than a month. On August 17, seven people were killed in a similar incident.
Police reported that one of the victims and two of the wounded in Friday’s shooting had prior criminal records, including charges related to drug trafficking, murder, and theft. Images circulating in local media showed several men dressed in black, wearing vests and caps, storming into the hall and opening fire. Authorities later discovered a burned vehicle believed to have been used by the attackers in another part of the city.
Local police stated several of the victims had prior arrests for drug charges so that’s likely the motivation behind the attack.
Ecuador has seen a sharp escalation in violence over the past four years, fueled by organized crime groups tied to Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. In January 2024, President Daniel Noboa declared an internal armed conflict and classified 22 criminal organizations as “terrorist” groups.
Despite these measures, killings have continued to rise. More than 5,500 homicides were recorded between January and July 2025, a sharp increase from the 3,697 cases reported during the same period in 2024, according to government data.
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