Dad shot dead daughter he mistook for burglar

A father-of-three has shot dead his own daughter after mistaking her for a burglar. Wealthy Leonardo Alonso, 52, thought he had gunned down an intruder after firing at a figure moving towards him in the darkness. But after he switched on the lights in his sitting room, he discovered the victim was his 24-year-old journalist daughter, Federica. The tragedy came just a month after burglars targeted the family home in an expensive neighbourhood of the Uruguayan capital Montevideo.

Three armed men attacked Federica as she returned to the house late at night and forced her inside before tying up her father and brother and taking cash and valuables. The victim's brother, also called Leonardo, had complained on his Twitter page about the lack of security and had proposed on Facebook the idea for a protest march to call for more police action shortly before the tragedy which took place in the early hours of Monday morning.



Their father is thought to have bought the handgun that killed his daughter soon after the October 30 robbery. He is now recovering after being treated for shock in hospital. He told the police he had gone outside with his weapon after hearing noises coming from the garden and ordering his family upstairs. He fired the gun after hearing his wife scream and rushing back into the living room to see a person he thought was an intruder moving towards him.

Tragic Federica died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. She was engaged to the son of Juan Pedro Penarol, president of leading Uruguayan football team Penarol. Gustavo Guidobono, director of a local association fighting to control the use of guns, said: "This tragedy shows weapons are for police, not people. Many people who possess guns are not properly prepared and we have these terrible consequences," he said.