Ecuador Presidential Candidate Fernando Villavicencio Is Assassinated During Campaign Stop

Gunmen in Ecuador shot dead presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio as he was leaving a rally on Wednesday night, with less than two weeks to go until a bitterly contested election.

Footage shared on social media showed Villavicencio, 59, being escorted out of the rally venue at 6:20pm local time and into a waiting car. He was climbing into the back seat when gunfire rang out. The windows did not appear to be bulletproof.

One suspect was shot dead in crossfire with security services, the country's attorney general said, adding that nine people were injured - among them a female candidate for the National Assembly and two police officers.

Last week Villavicencio, a former journalist known for tackling corruption, said he and his team had been threatened by the leader of a gang linked to drug trafficking.

In May, announcing his candidacy, he declared that he intended to 'take on and defeat the mafias which have coopted the state and have society on its knees.'

He was behind at least two other candidates, but had been gaining support in recent days, and was seen as the toughest candidate on organized crime.

General Manuel Iniguez, a deputy commander of the Ecuadoran national police, said a police officer was also injured in the attack, which happened outside a college in the north of Quito. The hit men launched a grenade toward Villavicencio's group, but it did not explode.