Radio Luna
March 2, 2015, in Palmira, Colombia

An unidentified gunman on a motorcycle shot Quintero multiple times as the journalist was entering a bakery in Palmira, a city in the Southwestern department Valle del Cauca, according to news reports. The bakery was near the offices of Radio Luna, where the journalist worked.

Quintero, known as "Quintín," hosted the news and commentary program "News and Something More" (Noticias y Algo Más) every weekday on Radio Luna, local journalists told CPJ. He often criticized local government and police officials on his program and discussed sensitive issues like corruption, according to the Bogotá-based press freedom organization Foundation for the Freedom of the Press (FLIP) and Edison Hidalgo, a journalist for the local station Radio Palmira, who spoke to CPJ.

Hidalgo said that Quintero had recently called officials from the city's previous administration "thieves" on the air and that the journalist had received threats more than a year ago. Hidalgo said he didn't know the content of the threats or whether Quintero had reported them to the authorities.

The Palmira police chief, Coronel William López, told FLIP he was unaware if Quintero had received any threats in the days leading up to his death. Another local law enforcement official, Coronel Fernando Murillo, told journalists that authorities were looking into several possible motives, including a personal grievance, according to news reports.

Motive Unconfirmed: CPJ is investigating to determine whether the death was work-related.

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