While authorities had yet to suggest who was behind the attack, attention was focused on leftist rebels from the National Liberation Army
BOGOTA — At least nine people were killed and more than 20 injured in a car bombing at a Colombian police academy in Bogota on Thursday, recalling the high-profile attacks associated with bloodiest chapters of the country’s guerrilla and drug conflicts.
The scene outside the General Santander police academy in southern Bogota was chaotic in the immediate aftermath of the midmorning explosion, with ambulances and helicopters rushing to the normally tightly controlled facility.
Witnesses said they heard a loud blast that destroyed windows in adjacent apartment buildings several blocks away. Pictures on social media showed a charred vehicle surrounded by debris on the academy’s leafy campus.
The police said at least nine people were killed and 22 injured. Among the dead were a Panamanian and an Ecuadorian national.
Rafael Trujillo said he was delivering a care package to his son Gerson, who entered the school just two days ago, when he was stopped in his tracks by the blast a block away from the school’s heavily fortified main gate.
“I’m sad and very worried because I don’t have any information about my son,” said Trujillo, standing outside the facility, where police officers had set up a taped perimeter.
