Ex- coach of Once Caldas paralyzed after shooting

[DoyleG]

Colombian coach left paralyzed after shooting

Posted: Thursday December 23, 2004 6:12PM; Updated: Thursday December 23, 2004 6:12PM

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombian soccer coach Luis Fernando Montoya is paralyzed from the neck down after being shot during a robbery.

Luis Fernando Montoya, who led Once Caldas to this year's South American club championship, "has not shown any movement of the body and is using a ventilator for breathing," doctors said in a statement Thursday.

Two men and two women suspected of involvement in the shooting have been detained.

Montoya was shot twice Wednesday as he tried to protect his wife from robbers outside their home in Caldas, about 170 miles northwest of Bogota. Doctors said one of the bullets struck him in the neck, hitting his spinal column and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.

Montoya was in intensive care at a hospital in Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city.

President Alvaro Uribe said he was pained by the attack, and called it a "national tragedy."

Police identified the suspected shooter as Javier Alonso Calle, 37, and said he was arrested along with an accomplice an hour after the attack.

Authorities also detained two women who allegedly followed Montoya's wife, Adriana Herrera, back to her home after seeing her withdraw cash from an ATM. They then apparently contacted Calle and his accomplice, who approached her for the cash.

Montoya, who was inside his home, noticed what was happening and rushed out to help.

"The men stopped me and demanded the money. Luis Fernando then put his hand into the bag and the guy probably thought he was going to pull a gun, so he fired," Herrera told RCN radio.

Once Caldas pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Copa Libertadores history last June by downing six-time champion Boca Juniors of Argentina. Once Caldas was only the second Colombian team to win South America's club trophy.

Montoya stepped down as coach of Once Caldas after his team lost to European club champion FC Porto in this month's Toyota Cup, which brings together the top club teams from Europe and South America. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/soccer/12/23/bc.soc.colombia.coachsh.ap/index.html