2 killed as motorcycle gunmen shoot two brothers at a market in Peru

Two brothers who worked as motorcycle taxi drivers were fatally shot outside a market in the San Martín de Porres district of Lima in a brazen daytime attack captured on security cameras.

The victims, identified as Einer Vallejos Tineo and Osmar Vallejos Tineo, were among a group of drivers parked on the street near Mercado Zarumilla Cristal, waiting to begin their workday transporting passengers in the northern part of the capital. Assailants on a motorcycle approached; the passenger on the back drew a firearm and opened fire directly at the group.

Witnesses, including a woman with a young child who fled the scene, and local merchants watched from inside nearby businesses as the shots rang out. Fellow drivers rushed the wounded brothers to a nearby hospital, but medical staff confirmed both arrived without vital signs.

Police from the National Police of Peru secured the area, recovered spent shell casings from the roadway, and collected a handwritten note left by the attackers. The message read approximately: “El siguiente es el trafa de Pollito y todo aquel que le sume a Kevin Carrion … Atte: Los pulpos” (“The next one is Pollito’s trafficker and anyone who backs Kevin Carrion … Signed: The Octopuses”).

Surveillance footage from municipal and business cameras is being reviewed to track the motorcycle’s escape route. The investigation has been assigned to the Criminal Investigation Department (DEPINCRI) of San Martín de Porres. Authorities are interviewing market vendors and the victims’ colleagues. Investigators’ primary working hypothesis is that the attack is linked to extortion targeting local transporters.

Police continue operations in the area seeking the perpetrators.