Shock Footage: Masked Gunmen Storm TV Channel in Ecuador, Take Hostages

The incident unfolded just hours after Ecuador President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency ordering the military to crack down on several transnational crime groups, labeling them terrorist organizations and belligerent non-state actors.

Peruvian media Gestión reports the gunmen held the news crew hostage while ordering them to ask police to leave the location.

Here’s a report on the incident from Gestión, translated to English:

They interrupted the live broadcast of TC Televisión in the middle of recording the program “After El Noticiero” in Guayaquil. In the midst of a state of emergency decreed by President Daniel Noboa, a group of hooded men, armed with rifles and grenades, burst in from the 2:15 p.m. this Tuesday, January 9 during the live broadcast on public television TC in Guayaquil, in a new drug attack that has shaken Ecuador for two days.

The TV signal remained open during the event and the arrival of military and police outside TC Television was evident. They immediately evacuated the workers who were inside the facilities, including journalists, cameramen, among others.

“Please don’t shoot, don’t shoot,” a woman can be heard pleading in the televised images, while other people sitting on the floor cover their faces. The armed people showed off their arsenal, until the lights on the set went out. The live feed continued to broadcast the gunshots, screams and cries heard off-camera.

Police were able to evacuate over 20 staffers amid the chaos.

Police later reported several suspects were arrested following the hostage situation.

“CAPTURED,” Ecuador police wrote on social media. “As a result of the intervention in @tctelevision #GYE , our police units have so far managed to arrest several subjects and evidence linked to the crime.”

Gestión reports the incident comes as Ecuador “has been experiencing nights of terror due to a wave of violence with kidnapped police officers, the escape of imprisoned criminal bosses and attacks with explosives.”

Graphic footage circulating on social media purports to show gangs of criminals executing prison guards.