Jonathan González, former León and Leones Negros player, shot and killed

Jonathan David González, an Ecuadorian soccer player who played for León, Leones Negros, and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico, was shot and killed on Friday, September 19, during a social gathering at his home, according to the National Police of Ecuador, where he currently lived while playing for Club 22 de Julio FC in the Serie B.

González was 31 years old, and reports in various local media indicate that the former “Panzas Verdes” player was at a meeting with several people in the Vista al Mar neighborhood, a town in Atacames bordering Colombia, when several armed men entered the home and opened fire. According to local police, “Speedy” González, as the soccer player was also known, died at the scene from “gunshot wounds.” In addition to Jonathan González, another unidentified person has been reported dead, who died on the way to the hospital for treatment.

The death of Jonathan “Speedy” González brings the number of soccer players murdered in Ecuador to three. On September 10, players for the Exapromo club in the second division (Ecuador’s fourth division), Maicol Valencia and Leandro Yépez, were murdered in an attack at a hostel in the city of Manta. Recent local police reports indicate that the attack targeted one of the two players.