Presidential candidate shot twice in the head in Colombia

A Colombian presidential candidate has been shot three times, twice in the head and once in the knee, at an election event in the capital Bogota.

Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, was attacked while addressing a small crowd of people in a park on Saturday. Police arrested a 15-year-old suspect at the scene, local media said.

Uribe's wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, called on the nation to pray for his survival. "Miguel is currently fighting for his life. Let us pray to God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him," she said, according to the BBC, according to A2 CNN.

Uribe's Centro Democratico party condemned the attack, saying it endangered "democracy and freedom in Colombia."

Cellphone footage shared online appears to show the moment he was shot in the head while speaking, causing them to flee in panic.

He was transported by helicopter to the Sante Fe clinic, while supporters gathered outside the hospital, writes A2 CNN.

The government of left-wing President Gustavo Petro said it "categorically and strongly" condemned the attack as an "act of violence not only against his person, but also against democracy."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attack and said the shootings posed a "direct threat to democracy".

Uribe announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election in October. He comes from a prominent political family in Colombia, with ties to the country's Liberal Party. His father was a union leader and businessman.

His mother was Diana Turbay, a journalist who was killed in 1991 in an attempt to save her after she was kidnapped by the Medellin drug cartel, led at the time by Pablo Escobar. (A2 Televizion)