Two MS-13 gang members are arrested over the murder of a Honduran journalist who was critical of the government and had received death threats but turned down police protection fearing cops would kill him

  • Veteran journalist Gabriel Hernández was killed on his way home from a class at a university in Nacaóme, Honduras, on Sunday  
  • Police arrested two MS-13 gang members who allegedly pulled up on motorcycle and opened fired
  • Officers raided a home Tuesday night and apprehended  Anderson Emmanuel Baquedano Ávila and Leonel Natán López Amador
  • Television program director Hernández had been sent death threats in the past
  • But he recently turned down police protection offered by the National Commission of  Human Rights, thinking the cops would kill him

Two MS-13 gang members, who allegedly shot dead a journalist who was highly critical of the government, have been arrested, the Honduran National Police have announced.

Gabriel Hernández, 54, was about to board a bus Sunday afternoon when the two men pulled up on a motorcycle and shot him in the city of Nacaóme, in southern Honduras. 

Hernández, a television station program director, was transported to a local hospital where he later died.

Hernández had previously criticized President Juan Orlando Hernández's regime and local government officials in the Valle department on his show 'El Pueblo Habla' ['The People Speak'] for independent channel Valle TV.

The veteran journalist, who was also a correspondent for Radio Globo, had reported several death threats which had been sent to him. 

But he turned down the National Commission of Human Rights's proposal to issue him police protection because he thought the cops would try to kill him themselves.  

Honduran journalist Gabriel Hernández was murdered Sunday as he was about to board a bus in southern Honduras. Police arrested two MS-13 members who they suspect killed the television program director

Honduran journalist Gabriel Hernández was murdered Sunday as he was about to board a bus in southern Honduras. Police arrested two MS-13 members who they suspect killed the television program director

Police arrested Anderson Emmanuel Baquedano Ávila and Leonel Natán López Amador

Police arrested Anderson Emmanuel Baquedano Ávila and Leonel Natán López Amador

The victim had requested help from a national agency in charge of protecting members of the press but the petition was denied, according to Honduran media outlet La Prensa

Local police announced that they had arrested gang members Anderson Emmanuel Baquedano Ávila, 24, and Leonel Natán López Amador, 22, during a home raid on Tuesday night.

The law enforcement agents said they confiscated two 9mm handguns and a Genesis dirt bike that the duo allegedly used in the shooting. 

Cops recovered two 9mm guns that were reportedly used in the deadly assault

Cops recovered two 9mm guns that were reportedly used in the deadly assault 

A Genesis dirt bike was confiscated by police officers during Tuesday night's raid that led to the arrest of two MS-13 gang members

A Genesis dirt bike was confiscated by police officers during Tuesday night's raid that led to the arrest of two MS-13 gang members

Gabriel Hernández was just leaving a local university where he was attending class moments before gunmen fired at him multiple times at 12:10pm local time.

Cell phone images showed Hernández lying unconscious on the flatbed of a pickup truck as an unidentified male tried to take his pulse. 

An unidentified male is spotted  trying to take's Gabriel Hernández's pulse while he was being transported to a local hospital

An unidentified male is spotted  trying to take's Gabriel Hernández's pulse while he was being transported to a local hospital

The Committee for Free Expression [C-Libre] have demanded an official inquiry into Hernández's death.

'The murder of journalists constitutes the most extreme form of censorship,' C-Libre said in a statement. 

'This action not only infringes in a particularly drastic way the freedom of thought and expression of the affected person, but also affects the collective dimension of these rights.'

Since 2001, 77 journalists have been murdered in Honduras and 92 percent have gone unsolved due to a 'lack of investigation', El Heraldo reported.