QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — An Ecuadorian presidential candidate known for speaking up against corruption was shot and killed Wednesday at a political rally in the capital amid a wave of startling violence in the South American country

President Guillermo Lasso confirmed the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio and suggested organized crime was behind his slaying.

Ecuador’s attorney general’s office said a suspect in the assassination of Villavicencio died of wounds after being arrested by authorities.

Police confirmed that several others were injured, including officers, describing the incident as a terrorist act and promising to get to the bottom of the killing.

He filed many judicial complaints against high ranking members of the Correa government, including against the ex-president himself.

Another candidate and former vice president Otto Sonnenholzner, meanwhile, said in a news conference, “We are dying, drowning in a sea of tears and we do not deserve to live line this.