Two triathletes in hospital after getting caught in gangland shooting crossfire

Two people competing in yesterday’s Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico event in the capital San Juan were hospitalised with gunshot wounds after being caught in the crossfire of what appears to be a gangland shooting that resulted in the death of a convicted drug dealer.

The injured competitors were Liz Boivin, aged 26 and from Wisconsin, who was struck in the left calf, and local man Miguel Arroyo Ramos, aged 49, who was hit three times on the left-hand side of his body, reports Yahoo! News.

Both Arroyo and Boivin were engaged in the cycling part of the triathlon when the shooting took place, with gunfire exchanged between the occupants of two cars in the upmarket district of Miramar.

After taking advice from police, the event organisers decided not to abandon it, saying: "The San Juan police have indicated that this was an isolated incident, the race and athletes were not a target, and that the course is safe for the race to continue."

Police identified a man found dead in one of the cars involved as 25-year-old Jose Ramos Tapia, who recently served a prison sentence for drug-dealing.

The other car was driven towards the district of Rio Piedras, its occupants firing at a police patrol car as they passed it. The vehicle has not yet been found, police said.