Heartbroken father warns parents not to upload ‘nothing’ about travel to social media after his son, 9, was shot dead by robbers just 30 MINUTES after landing in Dominican Republic
- Goiser Luís Feli, 9, was shot just 30 minutes after arriving in the Dominican Republic with his family
- After the driver of a car they had been picked up in was targeted by a gang of robbers, the driver refused to stop
- The American boy was shot in the head and died during surgery at a nearby hospital
A nine-year-old American boy was shot dead by robbers half an hour after landing in the Dominican Republic.
Gioser Luís Feli arrived at Cibao International Airport in Santiago on Wednesday for a spring break trip with his family shortly before their car was targeted by a gang of thieves.
Reports indicate that the driver of the car refused to stop after the robbers attacked it on Wednesday, who then opened fire before driving away.
Gioser was tragically hit in the head and died in the hospital while undergoing surgery, according to Journal Libre.
The day after the attack, national police arrested five men involved in the shooting, named Luis Angel Vargas Brito, 18, Derlin Javier Mercado Martínez, César Junior Ulloa Cuevas, José Manuel Almonte Santana, 20, and Elian Martínez Sánchez, 22.
Gioser Luís Feli, 9, died after being shot in the head during an attempted robbery shortly after he and his family arrived in the Dominican Republic
The tragic shooting happened after the family was picked up by an unnamed friend of the boy’s father, Sergio Luis Feliz Mancebo.
After landing in the Dominican Republic for the child’s spring break, they were expected to spend several days in the country before returning to New York next Monday.
In a video posted after he lost his son, Sergio said the family was intercepted by the robbers as they drove through a toll booth.
The gang then opened fire as the driver of the car, one of the father’s friends, refused to stop and tried to flee.
One of the bullets hit the boy in the head and he was rushed to a local hospital for emergency surgery before being pronounced dead. His body will be transported back to the United States.
The attackers were then able to flee the scene in a white Hyundai, which police used to track and arrest them after discovering they had rented it shortly before the botched robbery.
A press release added that the men “admitted their participation in the shooting.”
“These detainees were captured by video surveillance cameras in this terminal and from there they followed the victim’s father,” a police spokesman added after the arrests.
The boy’s father, Sergio Luis Feliz Mancebo, told police the robbers opened fire when the driver of the car refused to stop
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said he was ‘following up’ the matter after the boy’s death shocked the nation
The boy’s father warned travelers not to share information on social media when traveling to the Dominican Republic after posting photos of the family at JFK Airport as they waited to board their flight on Wednesday.
The nine-year-old’s death sent shockwaves across the Dominican Republic, with news of the arrests being praised by the country’s president, Luis Abinader.
“Since I heard about the death of the child Gioser Luis Féliz, I have been following the case,” he said on Twitter.
“I have been informed by the director of the National Police of the arrest of the 5 criminals who committed this heinous crime. Now justice must be ensured in the courts.’
The investigation into the shooting is still ongoing.