Authorities in Buenos Aires have arrested a man suspected of attempting to assassinate the Argentinian vice president Thursday night, after he approached her holding a loaded .380 pistol.
The apparent assassination attempt occurred outside of the Buenos Aires home of former Argentinian president and current vice president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Thursday night.
As Kirchner walked past a crowd of people, video footage reveals, the gunman surged forward towards her, aiming his weapon at her head.
Seconds later, the gunman was subdued and taken into custody.
The gunman has been identified as a Brazilian citizen named Fernando Andre Sabag Montiel, Telam reported.
Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernandez, responded to the incident in a television address Thursday night, saying that for some reason, the gunman’s weapon did not fire, despite the trigger being pulled.
"Cristina is still alive because - for some reason we can't technically confirm at this moment -- the weapon, which was armed with five bullets, did not shoot although the trigger was pulled.”
"We must eradicate hate and violence from our media and political discourse,” Fernandez continued, calling the attempted shooting an attack on the country’s democracy.