Colombian soldier who killed three servicemen including captain infiltrated army and received orders from FARC dissidents - as three other troop members are investigated for possible links

The Colombian soldier who killed three others and wound another at an army base is a FARC dissident who infiltrated the military and tried to flee to Ecuador before he was apprehended, the National Army has revealed.

Alexánder Orozco shot and killed captain Juan Herrera, second sergeant Carlos Rojas and fellow serviceman Yoandris Mejía at a base in the southern department of Putumayo on Monday.

The military said in a statement Tuesday that the attack was planned by Néstor Vera, who is also known as 'Iván Mordisco,' the leader of FARC dissidents.

The dissidents are former members of the Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and have refused to give up their arms following the government's 2016 peace deal.  

'Thanks to intelligence efforts, it was possible to establish that three soldiers belonging to this military unit had presumably been approached by members of the residual armed group Carolina Ramírez Structure to participate in this criminal action,' the Colombian National Army said.

Dissidents of the Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, were able to infiltrate Alexánder Orozco in the army about eight months ago. On Monday night, Orozco shot and killed three troop members and wounded another at a base in Putumayo. Orozco was arrested after he was wounded in a shootout 

Colombia National Army captain Juan Herrera was among the three military serviceman who were shot and killed at a base Monday

The names of the three soldiers in question have not been publicly revealed.

Orozco enlisted in the military less than eight months ago.

'Armed groups, criminal groups, high-crime structures, use two methods: one method is infiltration, which is to have someone in these criminal organizations and have them perform military or police service and in this way have a purpose, a mission,' the army said.

'And another method is the penetration method, in which a person who is providing military or police service is approached to change their thinking and to influence them to have more criminal actions.'

The army said that Orozco carried out the shooting after concluding his shift Monday morning. 

Orozco first opened fire at the troops rest center and killed Herrera.

He then made his way to the watch guard area and gunned down Rojas. He also shot Mejia and wounded a third soldier, who were airlifted to a hospital in Caquetá.

Mejía died from a gunshot wound and the other serviceman, whose name has not been released, was treated for a wound and remained hospitalized.

Orozco fled the base and was spotted with a man on a canoe in the Caquetá River.

Paramedics were seen tending to army soldier Alexánder Orozco, who was shot twice and survived following his arrest Monday after shot and killed three servicemen and wounded another at a base

Carlos Rojas, a second sergeant in the Colombia army, was shot dead by a soldier at a base in Putumayo on Monday

Yoandris Mejía died at a hospital Tuesday, a day after he was shot by fellow soldier at an army base in the Colombian southern department of Putumayo

He he fired at security forces when he saw they were closing in and suffered two gunshot wounds, including one in the abdomen. He was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery.

The individual who was manning the canoe was apprehended and turned over to local authorities. 

A military source told Infobae that he was trying to escape to Ecuador. 

'Upon noticing the presence of the police officers who requested him, after the alert issued by the National Army troops, he opened fire, and was injured in the exchange of shots in one of the lower extremities and in the abdomen,' the army said.

The shooting is the first deadly incident at a military base since May 2023 when a soldier shot dead a serviceman in the nation's capital, Bogotá.