Gunmen leave Argentine soccer star Messi a menacing message

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Gunmen left a threatening message Thursday for Argentine soccer famous person Lionel Messi and opened hearth at a grocery store owned by his in-laws in Argentina’s third-largest metropolis, police mentioned.

No one was injured within the early morning assault, and it was unclear why assailants would goal Messi or the Unico grocery store in Rosario, owned by the household of his spouse, Antonella Roccuzzo.

The town’s mayor, Pablo Javkin, lashed out at federal authorities over what he known as their failure to curb a surge in drug-related violence in Rosario, positioned about 190 miles ( 300 kilometers) northwest of the capital of Buenos Aires.

Police mentioned two males on a motorbike fired at the very least a dozen pictures into an Unico department within the early hours, and left a message on a bit of carboard that learn, “Messi, we’re ready for you. Javkin can be a drug trafficker, so he gained’t deal with you.”

Messi, captain of the nationwide crew that gained final 12 months’s World Cup for Argentina for the primary time in 36 years, has not commented. Messi at the moment performs for Paris Saint-Germain and spends a lot of his time abroad, although he typically visits Rosario the place he has a house within the suburb of Funes.

Javkin, a center-left politician in opposition to the ruling Peronist coalition, appeared to throw suspicion of complicity for the assault on each prison gangs and federal safety officers.

“I doubt everybody, even those that are supposed to guard us,” Javkin mentioned in an interview with an area radio station.

He mentioned the grocery store was in a bit of Rosario that has seen frequent crimes, that he has raised the difficulty in latest conferences with federal and provincial official legislation enforcement officers, and that no motion has been taken.

“The place are those who have to deal with us?” Javkin mentioned. “It’s clear that those that have the weapons and have the opportunity of investigating the criminals aren’t doing it, and it’s very straightforward for any gang to hold out one thing like this.”