Gringo killed at a ATM in Medellin?

arthur brode says on Jul 11, 2006, 18:52:

Greg Do you know if this happened during the day or night?

http://www.calirentals.net/

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Greg444 says on Jul 11, 2006, 18:59:

I am not sure , I think it late afternoon or twilight hours, I do not have any more info except that it was not daytime hours,
and it happened a week or so ago.

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arthur brode says on Jul 11, 2006, 19:15:

Its wiser to make Atm transactions in the morning,preferably inside a Bank.If your not going to use your Atm card or Credit card its best to leave it at home or in your hotel(especially at night).And always carry a laminated copy of your passport with you for identification.

http://www.calirentals.net/

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ColombiaBoard says on Jul 11, 2006, 20:48:

I haven's seen that in thenews It may be a mix of urban legend and/or hoax because this type of events are usually on the news specially if a foreigner is involved.

I haven's seen it on the news and I read the local paper on the net everyday.

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caslug says on Jul 11, 2006, 20:55:

wonder where he took the. money out. the best/safest place i find is at the the mall or inside casinos.. or banks close to there. after taking out the money you go inside for a while(15-30mins), before exiting and taking a taxi. casino have very tight security.. inside AND infront..

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calipro says on Jul 11, 2006, 21:19:

For the guys that can't cut and paste.... I am writing this with the good news first. I am out of the hospital after a stay of less than 96 hours and am in stable condition, all things considered. Que paso? I got to star in my own movie as lead character. Here is what happened.

I did the wrong thing, at the wrong place, at the wrong time...

I have decided to write this in order to answer some of the blood and guts questions which I have started to receive. On Monday, June 12, 2006, I was returning home in a taxi. I had spent the day running errands, in particular attempting to get cash advances and ATM withdrawals from a bank as part of getting my money together to buy a condo here. The bank branch where I usually stop in would not give me as large a cash advance as they might otherwise, so the always-friendly woman at the side desk wrote down the address of another branch where I could go to get another cash advance. One of the advantages of that other branch is that they have late hours. I got a cash advance and then got something to eat. At 7:20pm I grabbed a taxi and went home. The taxi had nearly arrived at the apartment where I am staying. There is a construction area nearby which had forced the taxi to stop, and make a hard left turn before proceeding up a hill. It was getting dark and I had trouble seeing very well. At 7:27pm, just seconds after the taxi started to proceed, I saw through the left-side rear taxi window a man running around crazily, apparently agitated and and waiving around a gun. I could not understand what the man was yelling in Spanish, and I froze up and didn't know what to do. I was also not completely sure at the time if he was yelling at me, maybe he was yelling at the taxi driver instead. (Later, the taxi driver claimed the gunman had said "Give me your money, you son of a bitch, all of it, or I will kill the two of you.") It was a surreal moment and I had trouble comprehending the meaning of the gun I was looking at. My first reaction could have been to move toward the left-side rear taxi window and find out what the man wanted. But I didn't move. I just sat there for one split-second too long.

The next thing I knew was there was an explosion and the entire window disintegrated into hundreds of pieces onto the car seat next to me. A bullet had been shot in a downward trajectory at the window. Because I had shifted my body slightly to the left instead of straight ahead, the bullet missed my left leg. Immediately the calf of my right leg was hurting terribly and I could feel it badly swelling up. I didn't know how badly I was hit but I knew that if I didn't lose consciousness quickly, and if I could feel all my body parts, then that was a good sign. I reached into my pocket and pulled out $200 worth of pesos. I reached over to my left and handed it through the now-missing window. I did this all without speaking. The man grabbed the money out of my hand and disappeared. Both the taxi driver and I froze in shock for a few seconds. The taxi driver had closed his eyes, and when he heard the gunshot he thought I was already dead. My biggest fear was not about my leg, it was that the man was going to get into the taxi with me and have me empty my pockets, kidnap us to another location, or just finish what he started with another bullet. I waited an awkward moment and surprisingly nothing happened. I yelled at the taxi driver to hurry and drive forward. In the one minute period drive to my apartment I called three friends on my cellphone. I finally reached somebody on the third attempt. My friend Juan answered. I cried, "I have been shot, I am bleeding all over the place, this is no joke! What should I do?" He directed me to a nearby hospital, and met me there 5 minutes after I arrived. The taxi driver drove like a madman to the clinic and was honking at everybody in heavy traffic and I was afraid of another accident. "Ten cuidado! Ten cuidado!" (Be careful, be careful!) Things quickly stabilized after I arrived. I looked down at my right leg and saw two holes, one just below and to the left of the knee where the bullet went in, and the one lower down on the other side where the bullet came out. The bullet made a hole 7 inches long, just missing the knee where it entered and the shin bone where it exited. Xrays quickly determined that I had no broken bones. The bullet had missed two arteries by a quarter inch but broke another one. The following afternoon maybe 18 hours later surgery was done to try to repair the damage and sew me up.

On the one hand, on the other hand...

Had freezing up in the taxi gotten me shot? I don't know. Had I reached over to the window to roll it down, I might have taken the bullet in the head instead. On one hand, if I had not shifted my knees to the left and towards the shooter, I would probably have gotten bullet holes in both legs instead of just one. On the other hand, had the shooter aimed just inches in either direction the bullet would have missed my body completely. Still, if the man had worse aim, or wanted to kill me, I would be dead now. For a person with a bullet hole, I was told I got off really easy. A lot of much worse things could have happened.

The real pain and suffering was due to boredom laying there in the hospital...

I have gotten a lot of support from everybody. The nurses came into the room every 30 or 60 minutes around the clock for 3 days. I got help with everything except getting enough sleep. For 4 days in the hospital and in the days that would follow, everything I did had to be performed with only one useable leg. I got to watch all the TV I wanted, including shows and movies with people running around shooting each other with guns. By Thursday night I was going crazy. The nurses would switch veins each day because the IV fluid stopped flowing properly. Finally, another nurse had trouble and started probing with her needle for a better entry point. It hurt like hell. I told her "This is my body. I have already had a hole put through me before, now you want to put another hole into me and your %# at *&! needle is hurting me. I will take a pill, but I will not accept any more needles!" She complied, and in an hour I started on oral antibiotics and didn't use the IV again. I was getting my "fight" back. I knew my time in the hospital was coming to an end and they agreed to let me go early. Today, Friday, just hours ago, I was released and went home. The medical bill? $2,700. Had this been the USA it would have been $15,000 or more. I don't know how long it will be before I can use my right leg and walk normally, but it will happen. It will be weeks or months before I can walk and months before the pain goes away. Right now it is bandaged up, and cramped all the time, and I cannot use it yet. I am beginning to use a wheelchair. I am just happy to be back in my apartment where I can access the "real world" of the Internet and telephones and can eat what I want. I have started on a hundred unread emails.

On the way back home I had to pass the scene of the crime. I couldn't see any evidence of the shooting. Most of the glass ended up inside the taxi and not on the ground. I wanted to see the exact spot where it happened, and face the horror of it once and for all. My life was not spared because the shooter had some great respect for humanity. It's like I have walked away from a fatal train wreck with only a scratch. And yet, so easily this could have all ended up completely different and this email would not have been written. At least, not with this version of events. It is good to be alive. Life is short and fragile. Enjoy it.

The above was written exactly 96 hours after the "special moment".

Addendum, July 7 - miscellaneous notes
- Does this change my attitude about being in Colombia. Not much, but it does make me realize the danger of combining "higher risk activities" like banking with going to a more dangerous location and doing so after dark. Had I done only one or two of these things, nothing would have happened. I did all three at the same time.
- This could happen anywhere. 2 weeks later my friend in San Jose, California was robbed at gunpoint - also at night.
- People ask me does it hurt. Not too much, unless I try to exercise, move around in the wheelchair, get physical therapy, or stand upright.
- The gunman was part of a two-person motorcycle team. I never saw the motorcycle or its driver. The gunman wore a helmut. Apparently I had been watched and followed after leaving the bank.
- After the shooting the left pocket of my jacket was found to be full of glass.
- The taxi driver recovered the bullet lodged in a seat.
- Until I can get my heel stretched enough so that it will touch the ground when my toes do I won't be able to walk normally.
- I am using every treatment modality possible to heal faster.
- Vicodin (for pain) seems impossible to find in Colombia. Difficulties getting satisfactory pain medication quickly was therefore the only substandard part of my medical treatment experience. After research and various delays I started on Oxycontin about 11 days after leaving the hospital.

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Mr. Hollywood says on Jul 11, 2006, 21:35:

Wow Glad you're okay. That's harrowing.

FYI, Vicodin is called Sinalgen in Colombia and is available at ANY farmacia. Stay away from that Oxycontin unless you want to end up like Rush Limbaugh and a bunch of other prescription junkies.

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calipro says on Jul 11, 2006, 21:42:

Mr. Hollywood I didn't get shot.

I just reposted a post from WLC.

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Ctg Bound says on Jul 12, 2006, 04:45:

I heard about the post Calipro talks about a few days after it happened in Cartagena, I have not heard of any others, when things like this happen it gets passed around quickly, so I suspect that Greg444 is refering to the Calipro post.

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kat1 (Moderator) says on Jul 12, 2006, 05:10:

Hope you get better soon Calipro what a horrible experience.

Usually there is a lot of warning on the bank telling people to watch out and not to take large amounts of money. when I went to Bogota instead staying with my brother and stayed in the Hotel Bacata in the center of Bogota to be near thing I wanted to do, and everytime i went to take money out of the cash point just outside the hotel a guard from the hotel used to scort me.

I have sent large amount of money to Colombia when I bought my properties there but ususally the bank where i sent the money tranfer it direct to my mum's bank account so she does not need to have it in cash.

engage brain before opening mouth

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robi666 says on Jul 12, 2006, 05:20:

LOL... Calipro... so many people hoping that you get better soon. It is probably better that you shoot yourself on a foot, if you don't want to make Kat and Mr Hollywood be disappointed. :-)

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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kat1 (Moderator) says on Jul 12, 2006, 05:26:

ohh ahh so he is not been shot so who got shot then?

lol robi666 and I wanted to give him a little kiss on his little injured foot for him to get better, sana que sana colita de rana.......

oh well.....never mind

engage brain before opening mouth

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Ctg Bound says on Jul 12, 2006, 05:43:

First time I have seen so many people feeling sorry for Calipro, I was waiting for Desi to post next.

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kat1 (Moderator) says on Jul 12, 2006, 05:53:

another one that bite the dust LOL this is getting hilarious

engage brain before opening mouth

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kat1 (Moderator) says on Jul 12, 2006, 06:23:

DG, Calipro was not shott it was somebody else ;)!

engage brain before opening mouth

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tejasmarcos says on Jul 12, 2006, 07:59:

actually that is darn good advice dongringo. the guy who actually got shot posts on another message board. it would be very cool to drop that info over there. if i were in his shoes, i would appreciate the info as i have never heard of "foot drop".

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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Kata says on Jul 12, 2006, 08:16:

where did this happen? Maybe I am overlooking it in the message but where were you when this happened? Medellin? Does anyone know where this may have happened in CArtagena? I agree that it could happen anywhere..

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webmanco says on Jul 12, 2006, 08:19:

Bogotá tiene la tasa de

Bogotá tiene la tasa de homicidios más baja de los últimos 21 años, una de las más bajas en América

Bogotá has one one of the lowest murder rates in Colombia and one of the lowest in Latin America

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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Miguel says on Jul 12, 2006, 08:53:

Couple of things... Someone needs to forward DG/GIB's advice to the guy who got shot in Medellín who was not calipro.

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Miguel says on Jul 12, 2006, 10:16:

Don Gringo Make sure someone forwards your medical advice to that dude.

As far as ATMS go, thanks to elmodofoque's cousin, now I only go to Citibank in Barranquilla, where the guard meets us curbside with his sawed-off 10 guage and escorts us back to the taxi.

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elmodefoque says on Jul 12, 2006, 10:44:

I pity the fool that messes with Miguel and yours truly in Barranquilla or anyone hanging with us. My nephew has massive arms that could snap any modefouqes neck in a second. He got shot once and did not even know it. And if you think he’s tough I’m even worst. I could scream so loud would make you ears bleed.

over 5 million colombianos in USA and only 27 barranquilleros, i'm one. CURRAMBA, EL MEJOR VIVIDERO DEL MUNDO!

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elmodefoque says on Jul 12, 2006, 11:07:

This super corroncho young guy (John my nephew) is so strong he carried a 6’2� around 200 pounds passed out skunk drunked Miguel, 5 stories to his hotel room, not once, not twice, but almost 5 times.
Just kidding, it was only 2 times.

over 5 million colombianos in USA and only 27 barranquilleros, i'm one. CURRAMBA, EL MEJOR VIVIDERO DEL MUNDO!

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tomtom33 says on Jul 12, 2006, 17:40:

Kat My winky got hurt. How about a kiss for it?

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Greg444 says on Jul 12, 2006, 18:27:

OK, apparently this guy was just shot and did not die. Still nerve endings sometimes never come back, or infections set in.
Medellin, still the most over-rated city in Colombia , in my opinion. Where people live in adjunct poverty 5-10 minutes from Poblado. I guess if they have not taken a stand by now, they never will. Oh well, thats Colombia.

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