An Ecuadoran judge was killed Thursday while walking his children to school, and a professional soccer player was shot and wounded in the latest attacks attributed to criminal gang activity in the South American country.

Police said a gunman on a motorbike opened fire on judge Marcos Mendoza in the coastal town of Montecristi in Ecuador's Manabi province, plagued by drug cartels.

Provincial police chief Colonel Giovanni Naranjo told reporters the Los Lobos gang — designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States — was suspected of the attack.

At least 15 judges or prosecutors have been killed in Ecuador since 2022, according to Human Rights Watch.

The Ecuadoran Judges' Association said Mendoza's "shocking" murder shined a light on the "vulnerability" of the count

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