Paraguayan lawmaker killed in shootout with drug agents

A Paraguayan ruling party lawmaker was killed at his home Monday in a shootout with drug enforcement agents looking for his son, police said.

Officers came under fire at Eulalio Gomes's home in the country's northeast and shot back, "mortally wounding the parliamentarian," according to police chief Carlos Benitez.

Gomes, 67, was a member of the conservative Colorado party.

The operation, police said, had targeted his son Alexandre under a warrant for "persons suspected of being part of a scheme of money laundering from drug trafficking and criminal association."

Charges have also been filed against Eulalio Gomes, but police said his arrest had not been on the cards as he enjoyed parliamentary protection.

His son later turned himself in.

Colleagues of Gomes condemned the killing and asked for the heads of Benitez and the interior minister.

His lawyer, Oscar Tuma, claimed Gomes had been unarmed and was "killed in his bed."

AFP