Honduras’ midfielder Arnold Peralta looks at the ball while falling on the pitch during a friendly football match against Japan in Toyota, Aichi prefecture, Japan on November 14, 2014. Honduran national football team player Arnold Peralta was shot dead in La Ceiba, Honduras on December 10, 2015, police informed. AFP PHOTO
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras— Authorities in Honduras say the captain of the national football team has been shot to death in a shopping mall parking lot in a city on the country’s Caribbean coast.
Arnold Peralta was killed by an unidentified gunman on a motorcycle in his hometown of La Ceiba on Thursday. His father, Carlos Peralta, confirmed the death at a news conference.
Police were hunting for at least one gunman, said police spokesman Commissioner Leonel Sauceda, adding that the motive was unlikely to be a robbery because Peralta had not had his belongings taken.
“Apparently it was one or two individuals who were traveling in a vehicle — a motorcycle or car,” he added.
Osman Madrid, Olimpia vice president, told local station HRN: “We are saddened, dismayed.
The 26-year-old midfielder joined Club Deportivo Olimpia in the Honduran national soccer league this year. Olimpia was eliminated from the league’s semifinal last weekend. Peralta previously played for the Rangers Football Club in Scotland and Club Deportivo Vida in Honduras.
Peralta was scheduled to play in the national team’s friendly match against Cuba next week.
Honduras is plagued by gang violence and has one of the world’s highest homicide rates.