Footage shows the moment the Vice President, surrounded by a mob of supporters, found herself face-to-face with the loaded weapon.
Argentina’s politically powerful Vice-President, Cristina Fernández on Thursday narrowly escaped assassination after a gunman’s weapon jammed as he aimed at her.
Footage shows the moment the Vice President, surrounded by a mob of supporters, found herself face-to-face with the loaded weapon.
The man was quickly overpowered by her security officers in the incident on Thursday night, according to BBC.
President Alberto Fernández, who is not related to the Vice President, who is a former president herself, said the pistol did not discharge when the man tried to fire it.
“A man pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger,” the president said in a national broadcast following the incident. He said the firearm was loaded with five bullets but “didn’t fire even though the trigger was pulled.”
The vice president did not appear to have suffered any injury, and the man was overpowered within seconds as he stood among a crowd of her supporters.
Gina De Bai, a witness who was near the vice president during the incident, told The Associated Press she heard “the sound of the trigger being pulled.” She said she didn’t realise it was a handgun until the man was rushed by security personnel.
Police said the gunman, who local media identified as a 35-year-old Brazilian man, has been taken into custody.
They are attempting to establish a motive for the attack on the left-leaning populist, who was Argentina’s president from 2007 to 2015, and its first lady for four years before that.
President Alberto Fernández revealed the gun was loaded with five bullets, but failed to fire when triggered.
Video circulating on social media shows the gun emerging from the crowd, and Ms Fernández de Kirchner ducking to avoid it – covering her ears as she crouched.
In another video, people in the crowd appear to try to block Ms Fernández de Kirchner from the suspected gunman, who came within inches of her.
The crowd has been gathering outside her home for the last few nights in a show of support as she fights charges of defrauding the state and being involved in a scheme to divert public funds while she was president.
A police spokesperson earlier told Reuters news agency that a weapon was found a few metres from the scene after the man had been arrested.
Supporters of the vice president have been gathering in the streets surrounding her home since last week, when a prosecutor called for a 12-year sentence for Fernández as well as a life-long prohibition in holding public office in the corruption case.
Shortly after the incident, government officials were quick to decry what they called an assassination attempt.
“When hate and violence are imposed over the debate of ideas, societies are destroyed and generate situations like the one seen today: an assassination attempt,” Economy Minister Sergio Massa said.
Cabinet ministers issued a news release saying they “energetically condemn the attempted homicide” of the vice president. “What happened tonight is of extreme gravity and threatens democracy, institutions and the rule of law.