'We're living a nightmare': the testimony of the mother of the police officer detained in La Matanza

The Thiago case, which shook the entire country, reveals the terminal state of security in La Matanza and the helplessness to which even those who protect us are exposed. "Since that night we've been living a nightmare": the desperate testimony of the mother of the police officer detained after the La Matanza tragedy, Amalia Fajardo can't hold back her tears. Her son, assistant officer Facundo Aguilar Fajardo, was detained after a violent attempted robbery in which he defended himself as he was trained. But far from being recognized for his actions, he now sleeps in a cell.

"The truth is that what we're living since that night I accompanied my son is a nightmare", says Amalia, her voice breaking. "We've always accompanied him with his father since he joined the Federal Police. He used to say: "Mom, I'm grown up," but I told him that if I don't go with him, I stay home with my heart in my mouth", she commented.

What should have been a routine of accompaniment ended in hell.  "We used to see it on television and say "poor thing," and now I'm living it myself. It's very painful. He didn't go out looking for a fight. He was just going to work, like every day". That day, Facundo had promised his little brother to buy him a television for his room.  "He was happy. He told him: "Get your room ready, this week I'll buy you the TV." Now he's detained as if he were a criminal," his mother lamented.

But the most outrageous thing is what she recounts about the violence she experienced firsthand: "They hit me, they pulled my hair. I felt a blow to the head. It's not seen on the cameras, but they cornered us next to the car. I'm still in shock. They were armed. I just wanted my son to be okay. I suppose he thought the same about me. I don't remember that night well, what else can I say... my son is a sweetheart", she narrated.

Amalia's words, full of pain and helplessness, summarize the abandonment felt by thousands of Buenos Aires residents. Her son, a young police officer 21 years old, is now another victim of a province abandoned to its fate by Axel Kicillof's administration.

The tragedy occurred Wednesday night, around 10:30 p.m., at the intersection of Avenida Crovara and Madrid, in La Matanza. Facundo Aguilar Fajardo, an officer of the Argentine Federal Police, was intercepted by four armed criminals while walking in civilian clothes with his mother. When he identified himself as a police officer, he replied to the attack with his service weapon. A shootout broke out.

About 200 meters (656 feet) from the scene, Thiago Correa, a 7-year-old boy, was waiting for the bus with his father, Fabián. "I heard an explosion and thought it was a motorcycle, but then more shots came. When I realized they were shooting at each other, I tried to throw Thiago to the ground, but a bullet had already hit him", the father recounted, in pain.

Thiago was shot in the head. He was rushed to the hospital, but in the following hours his brain death was confirmed. The entire society mourned his loss.

One of the assailants, Brandon Corpus Antelo (18), died after being shot in the neck. Two other accomplices—Uriel Alexis Montenovo and Uriel Emanuel Leiva, both 21 years old—were seriously injured and remain hospitalized. The fourth criminal fled and is being intensely sought.

However, outrage grew when the prosecutor in the case, Diego Rulli, ordered the detention of the police officer for alleged "excess in legitimate defense". The measure, widely repudiated on social media and in the press, once again exposes the absurd judicial garantismo prevailing in Buenos Aires, where uniformed officers end up behind bars and criminals, on the street.