Gun-waving robber holds up TV reporter, crew while filming in Ecuador
A TV reporter and his crew were robbed while filming in Ecuador — with their footage capturing the shocking moment the armed robber pointed a handgun straight at them.
Soccer reporter Diego Ordinola shared video of the brazen gun-waving crook pouncing Friday afternoon as the DirecTV Sports crew filmed outside the Estadio Monumental stadium in Tarqui, Guayaquil.
“Telephone!” the armed robber shouted, pointing a handgun straight at Ordinola and swiping away the microphone he was using.
The thief, wearing a shirt and cap with his face covered by a mask, then raised his weapon to the camera operator, before grabbing a phone from someone just to the right of the shot.
The DirecTV Sports’ camera rolled throughout the robbery, and as they followed him after a pause — filming him being driven away on the back of a motorbike.
“We can’t even work in peace,” Ordinola wrote as he shared the clip, saying that police had “promised to find these criminals.”
His post was flooded with good wishes, as well as a number of people who used the footage to identify a possible plate number for the motorbike used for the escape. It was not immediately clear if there had been any arrests or there were any known suspects.
In a follow-up message thanking followers for their “messages of solidarity,” Ordinola wrote, “Let’s unite to eradicate crime in Ecuador.”