Local media reported some 30 shots had been fired at an event in the north of the capital, Quito. Video footage shows Villavicencio getting into a car after the event, before the sound of apparent gunfire and screaming.
Villavicencio had alleged links between organised crime and government officials in Ecuador.
The suspect was also shot in an exchange of bullets with security and later died from his injuries, the country’s attorney general said on social media. Nine other people were injured in the exchange of gunfire.
Main image: By Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador – https://www.flickr.com/photos/asambleanacional/52843099532/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133023399
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