BOGOTÁ, April 16, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A Colombian journalist investigating corruption was killed over the weekend in a city near the border with Venezuela, officials said Monday.

The reporter, 54-year-old Jaime Vasquez, was shot in Cucuta in front of about a dozen witnesses, according to security videos released by local media.

Prosecutors say the gunman fled on a motorbike.

President Gustavo Petro said on X he had ordered an investigation into the murder of Vasquez, who had published allegations of irregular contracts and abuses of power in the city administration and received threats as a result of his work, according to a friend.

Colombia's FLIP press freedom foundation condemned the killing and called for a "rapid and exhaustive" probe.

Since 2006, 167 journalists have been killed in Colombia, according to FLIP. Last year, 163 reporters received threats.

Another eight people were killed in and around Cucuta on the same weekend, police said, in a region where paramilitary fighters, guerrillas and local criminal gangs are known to operate.