WATCH: Paraguayan Mayor Clings to Life After Audacious Assassination Attempt

Local officials and bishops are calling for peace after the mayor of a notoriously lawless border city was shot seven times Wednesday.

The mayor of Paraguayan border city Pedro Juan Caballero is reportedly in critical condition after being shot seven times in a brazen daytime assassination attempt.

Shocking surveillance footage from the scene shows three hooded suspects leap from a car and repeatedly fire at Mayor José Carlos Acevedo before driving away. According to reports, the mayor was shot four times in the neck, twice in the right arm and once in the left arm, and subsequently suffered a heart attack.

The latest reports from Paraguayan media paint a grim portrait of Acevedo’s odds of survival, with doctors saying that the victim’s body is “shutting down” and no longer responding to medical treatment.

Paraguayan police reportedly say they’ve made “important advances” in the case, and “have important information [they’re] evaluating which could implicate those responsible,” but reportedly declined to give more details.

The city of Pedro Juan Caballero, perched on the border of Brazil, has long been a hub of organized crime and drug trafficking. In 2020, the city’s regional jail was the site of what Reuters called “one of the most audacious jailbreaks in Paraguay’s history.”

For years, locals have suffered from the violence which has spilled over from gang-related disputes. Late last year, Mayor Acevedo’s niece was allegedly killed in a similar brazen attack. Other family members aren’t optimistic about the situation. Regarding the fight back against organized crime, Acevedo’s brother–and the governor of the Ambay province–reportedly told local outlet ABC “the war is lost.”