Gabriel Jesus Sarmiento, a Venezuelan influencer, was fatally shot on Monday while he livestreaming on TikTok. The country’s Ministry of Public Safety released a statement, saying that he died in his home in Maracay, the capital city of Aragua, which also finds itself in the name of the notoriously famed Tren de Aragua gang.
As of now, no confirmed connection between the TikToker‘s death and the group has been established. Nonetheless, local outlets like El Universal have been reporting that in Sarmiento’s online pleas, he even shed light on gangs like El Tren de Aragua, which the US considers a “terrorist” organisation, and El Tren del Llano threatening him.
Gabriel Jesus Sarmiento denounced Venezuelan gangs and wanted criminals in his TikTok videos
25-year-old Sarmiento is said to have used his online platform to repeatedly criticise criminal gangs and alleged corrupt cops colluding with local criminals. He had a reported following of nearly 80,000 on TikTok. Jesus Sarmiento even shared images and videos of alleged gang members. Additionally, he spoke out about the Tren de Aragua leader, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero, who goes by the alias “Nino Guerrero,” in one of his videos. The US State Department has announced a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction, as per CBS News.
“I was kidnapped by… DAET — the police’s Directorate of Strategic and Tactical Actions,” he said in one of his last videos. “We are overrun with delinquent officials who work with common criminals.”
Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab further fuelled those fears, adding that he was killed shortly after he spoke up about “threats made against him by members of GEDOs (Organised Crime Structured Groups, in Spanish) and alleged police officials.”
What happened in Gabriel Jesus Sarmiento’s final TikTok livestream
According to a recording of Sarmiento’s livestream, a woman’s screams can be heard offscreen. As per CNN’s detailed account of the incident, a man is subsequently heard asking her “What happened, what happened?” His shouts are shortly followed by a loud bang of gunfire eruption.
“They shot me!” he can be heard screaming. The clip cuts off after capturing the vision of two unidentified armed men. People quoted Gabriel Jesus Sarmiento’s relatives saying that he was shot at least nine times. The other woman in the video is reportedly the Venezuelan influencer’s mother. She is also believed to have been shot in the abdomen. Though injured, she reportedly survived the attack.
Pictures of the young content creator screenshot from his final TikTok livestream have since been re-shared by fellow influencers and social media users, gaining viral traction on various platforms.
The 69th Prosecutor’s Office Against Organised Crime has been tasked to “investigate, identify, and prosecute” people behind the TikToker’s death.