the police officers came out Roberth was lying on the ground wounded and he was constantly calling his dad, Mr. Octavio (now deceased) who did not come out, I guess the police officers would not let him go out and that was when the two police officers grabbed Roberth threw him into the patrol car saying that they were going to take him to the hospital, but once Roberth (now deceased) was inside the patrol car they fired another shot at him to get him to put his legs inside because he did not want to get into the patrol car. The police left with Roberth and to take him to the hospital but they didn’t because I saw it when the patrol car that was carrying Roberth was passing by over and over with the siren on, when Roberth was taken away, (now deceased) Mr. Octavio (now deceased) his dad and David (now deceased) his brother, they ran outside like crazy men trying to help for them to be taken to the hospital, they got a ride with a man named Mario who has a green Fiat Palio and they went there I didn’t find out anything more until people gave me the news that David and Mr. Octavio had been killed at the intersection of Tenería Primero de Octubre, and even so we still didn’t know the whereabouts of Roberth, in other words, we first found out that Mr. Octavio and David were the ones who went to search for Roberth.45 47. Additionally, the person who allegedly drove Octavio Díaz and his son David Octavio in his vehicle when they left to search for Robert Ignacio, made the following statement to the CICPC: […] I was inside my residence located in [urbanización Rafael Urdaneta neighborhood, sector 01, 21st Street, house No. 04, la Segundera, Cagua, state of Aragua], when suddenly, I heard shots fired and I decided to go outside to see what is going on and I see two male individuals who told me to take them to the hospital, to which I replied that I couldn’t and they continued to insist and, consequently, I opted to drive them, when we were driving at the intersection of tenerías [and] 1º de octubre, several state police motorcycles were coming from the opposite direction, I mean, they were going toward la Segundera and then they came back and shot at one of the tires of my vehicle and I had to stop, they called out for me to stop and indicated for me to get out of the vehicle, an order that I followed and subsequently I quickly got out with my hands up, I leapt to the ground and I started to hear several shots fired, I am not aware of the exact time there (sic), but afterwards the same police officers picked me up and put me in a patrol car and drove me to the police headquarters of Cagua.46 48. At least three other statements of persons who were near the scene of the crimes were in the case file, all of whom claimed that several armed police officers entered the house of the Díaz Loreto family, took out Robert Ignacio, shot him several times and put him into a police patrol car, preventing his family members from coming to his aid. There were also statements that after this, his father and brother David 45 Statement of María Teresa Cañizales Peña to the CICPC of Cagua. Cited in Annex 6. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Ministry of Public Prosecution. Office of the Ninth Prosecutor of the Judicial District of the State of Aragua. Official Letter No. 05-F9-1304-03. Charging document filed with the Fifth Oversight Judge of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the State of Aragua on June 13, 2003, page 10. Annex to the initial petition of March 14, 2007. Appearing as well in the case file of the IACHR is the statement of Viathnne Alejandra Lozada Paredes, who testified that she saw “when Mr. Octavio and his son David asked Mr. Mario, who owns his green Fiat Palio make vehicle, to do them the favor of taking them to the hospital because his other son named Roberth had been wounded, they got in and the three of them drove off in the car […]”. See: Annex 26. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Ministry of the Interior and Justice. Scientific and Forensic Crime Investigation Unit (CICPC). Aragua Region, Cagua Sectional Office. Statement of Viathnne Alejandra Lozada Paredes of February 28, 2003. Annex to the initial petition of March 14, 2007. And the statement of Elio Johan Urbina Méndez who testified that Mr. Octavio had mentioned to him the day of the events “at about 1:00 pm […] several police officers of La Segundera of Cagua had showed up at his house […who] they told them they were looking for some hoodlums and then left the location […]”. See: Annex 27. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Ministry of the Interior and Justice. Scientific and Forensic Crime Investigation Unit (CICPC). Aragua Region, Cagua Sectional Office. Statement of Elio Johan Urbina Méndez of February 3, 2003. Annex to the initial petition of March 14, 2007. 46 Statement of Mario Sciortino Zambrano to the CICPC of Cagua. Cited in Annex 6. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Ministry of Public Prosecution. Office of the Ninth Prosecutor of the Judicial District of the State of Aragua. Official Letter No. 05-F9-1304-03. Charging document filed with the Fifth Oversight Judge of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the State of Aragua on June 13, 2003, page. 9. Annex to the initial petition of March 14, 2007. 12