Among the wounded were: Victor Mauricio Pérez Serrano, Maribel Arce de Pérez, Juliet Robledo, Jose Darío Martínez, Miriam Ortiz de Parrado, Alfonso Cubillos, Yolanda Garzón de Cubillos, Jhon Cubillos Garzón and Pedro Jose Sarmiento.

The Novel

In 2002, Colombian writer Mario Mendoza published “Satanas” (Satan), a novel that analyzes the case of Delgado. The book was very successful and received several international awards. Mario Mendoza met Delgado at the university in Bogota when he was a Literature student, and he actually talked to Delgado just a couple of days before the massacre.

The Film

In 2006, Colombian filmmakers Rodrigo Guerrero (Producer) and Andi Baiz (Director), adapted "Satanas" into a film (with the same title). The story is framed in a context of urban solitude in the modern world and sheds some light on the motivations and anxieties of Campo Elias Delgado but avoiding explicit or manichean conclusions.

"I have a Problem. I don't love my mother."

Delgado served the USA Air Force, apparently with some distinction, before returning to his homeland of Bogata, Colombia. In 1986 he was 52 years old and he was living with his mother and working as an electronics engineer.

Apparently he didn't really get along with other people that much because he was a very bossy person. He always addressed people as if they were members of his squadron. I guess all that army training in dehumanising our fellow humans paid off for Delgado.

I'm not really sure why, but on December 4, 1986, Delgado snapped. He told one of his few friends that he didn't like his mother, then went home and killed her. To get rid of the problem of a bothersome body he rolled her up in newspaper and set her alight. Now I know that Delgado wasn't the brightest of chaps, but I would have thought that setting a fire inside ones home isn't very smart, practically or tactically, and that even the tiniest of minds could figure that out. But there was method in his madness.

I guess that the fire got out of control because Delgado had to leave the apartment. He went next door and knocked on the door. He shot the guy that answered, then went on to knock on a couple more doors. The people in the building can't have been much smarter that Delgado because they kept answering, despite the sounds of gunshots. By the time Campo Delgado left the building six of his neighbours were dead.

Campo decided that it was time to relax a little following the initial massacre, so he went to a nice restaurant, a very expensive one by all accounts, and had a lovely meal. He paid the bill, then ordered two drinks from a waiter. He paid the bill for the drinks then, as the waiter described it, "He stood up and began shooting in all directions."

Twenty-one diners were killed in the ensuing violence. The police showed up quickly, and the shoot out lasted for nearly thirty minutes. Throught thisnshootout Delgado kept picking off 'innocents'. Also during this time Delgado went through five boxes of ammunition.

The violence came to an end when a police bullet found it way into Delgado's head. He was killed instantly.

A witness later claimed that Delgado had been very patient when picking off his victims. They said that he aimed very directly at the head, and made sure that he had killed each intended victim.

Gunman in Bogotá kills mother, 18 others

The Boston Globe

December 5, 1986

BOGOTÁ -- A gunman killed his mother yesterday, set her on fire and then killed 18 others, including 14 in a restaurant in a fashionable section of Bogotá, police said. The man, identified as Campo Elias Delgado, then shot himself to death, police said.

Gunman kills 26, is slain

Mother, neighbors victims in Colombia

Philadelphia Daily News

December 5, 1986

A 52-year-old teacher fatally shot his mother, set her afire and went on a shooting spree in his apartment building and a nearby restaurant before being killed by police.

A total of 27 people died.

28 lie dead after gunman ends rampage

Detroit Free Press

December 6, 1986

BOGOTÁ, Colombia -- Campo Elias Delgado Morales, who was said to be a fan of the novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," was 52 and lived with his mother.

Neighbors said he didn't talk to her much -- except to argue, kick her around sometimes and punch her out.

28 are slain in a rampage in Colombia

December 6, 1986

A man who was described as hating violence stabbed a woman and her daughter to death, killed his mother and five other women, then ate a leisurely meal before killing 20 more persons in a cafe.

They identified the killer as Campos Elias Delgado, 52 years old. Police shot him to death at the end of the spree of 28 murders, the authorities said, adding that they did not know of a motive for the killings. Police quoted witnesses as saying Delgado had fought with US forces in the Vietnam War. But the US Defense Department said it had no such record. Police gave this account of the killings:

At about 3 p.m. Thursday, Delgado went to the apartment of an acquaintance, Norta Becerra. He repeatedly stabbed Becerra and her 14-year-old daughter, Claudia. The doorman at the Becerra apartment building notified police, who found the bodies.

Delgado then returned to his own apartment, where he shot his mother, covered her body with newspapers and clothes and set it afire. He then went to other apartments in the same building and shot five women who answered knocks at the door. Delgado, an English teacher, then went to the home of a former student, who said he appeared calm as they talked for about an hour. He was carrying a briefcase, the former student, identified only as Clemencia, told a radio station. After the conversation Delgado went to Pozzetto, a fashionable Italian restaurant in northern Bogotá, drank eight vodka tonics, ate dinner, read a newspaper and then strolled through the restaurant, firing at diners and workers with a 38-caliber revolver. He shot most of the victims in the head from five or six feet away and paused several times to reload from an ammunition belt he had in the briefcase.

Juan Guillermo Gomez, a diner, said police surrounded the restaurant and ordered Delgado to surrender. He continued shooting and police stormed in, killing him with several shots to the head. Saul Serrato, a friend, said Delgado had been a crewman on a plane in Vietnam and had fought with US troops there. "His experience in the war in Vietnam seems to have been very negative because he hated violence," Serrato said in an interview with the Caracol radio chain.

In Washington, Pentagon officials said they were unable to find any records indicating that Delgado had served with US military forces in Vietnam. Other acquaintances told radio stations that Delgado did not get along with his mother.

Vietnam veteran kills 29 in Bogotá

Hospitals yesterday appealed for blood donations to save survivors of a massacre carried out by a deranged Vietnam war veteran who killed 29 people, including his mother, when he ran wild on Thursday.

Even in a country as notoriously violent as Colombia, the mayhem wrought by Campo Elias Delgado, who served with US forces in Vietnam, sent shock waves through the nation. The "Rambo-style bloodbath", as the press has dubbed it, ended when Delgado shot himself dead as police closed Chapinero district where most of his victims died.

Delgado, aged 52, lived for several years in the US and served with the US Army, either as a combat soldier or medic, in Vietnam. At the height of the blood-letting, Delgado was heard to boast that he was a Vietnam veteran.

Among the dead was the daughter-in-law of former President Betancur, whose four-year term ended in August. Eleven people were wounded, several critically.

Delgado returned to Colombia 15 years ago to live with his mother in a Bogotá apartment. The relationship was tense and often violent, said neighbours who claimed that he often beat his mother.

Police disclosed that on Thursday afternoon Delgado stabbed to death a 35-year-old housewife and her daughter, aged 15, in a house in northern Bogotá. Both victims had previously lived in the same apartment building as Delgado and were close friends of his mother.

He went back home where he shot his mother through the head at point-blank range, wrapped her body in newspaper and set it ablaze before going, on the pretext of needing a telephone to call the fire brigade, to nearby apartments, where he killed six neighbours.

After families barricaded themselves into their flats, he walked 10 blocks to the restaurant where he was a regular customer. He drank eight vodkas with orange juice before ordering wine and a plate of spaghetti.

Delgado then went to a toilet with a briefcase and returned brandishing a revolver and hunting knife. Of the 35 people, customers and staff, in the restaurant, he shot and killed 20. Several victims begged for their lives.

President Virgilio Barco expressed shock at the massacre.

28 die as Colombian goes on a rampage with knife and gun

December 5, 1986

BOGOTÁ, Colombia - A man killed 28 people, including his mother and 20 diners at a restaurant, Thursday night in a rampage that ended when he was shot to death by the police, the authorities said today.

The police, who said they had determined no motive for the shootings, gave this account: The assailant, Campos Elias Delgado, 52 year old, went to the apartment of an acquaintance, 34-year-old Norta Becerra, and repeatedly knifed her and her 14-year-old daughter, Claudia, killing them.

He then returned to his apartment, where he shot his mother at the apartment they shared, wrapped her body in newspapers and clothing and set it afire. He went to other apartments in the building and fatally shot five women who answered knocks on their doors.

And then Mr. Delgado visited an acquaintance, who said later that he had appeared calm, and then went to a restaurant where he ate dinner and had eight drinks before pulling out a .38-caliber revolver.

The killer strolled through the restaurant shooting people, most of them in the head from five to six feet. He paused to reload several times from the supply of 400 cartridges he had brought along in an ammunition belt and briefcase.

A diner, Juan Guillermo Gómez, said the police surrounded the restaurant and ordered Mr. Delgado to surrender. However, he continued shooting and the police stormed in, killing him with several shots in the head.

Saul Serrato, a friend, said Mr. Delgado had been a crewman on a plane in Vietnam and fought with United States troops there.

In Washington, Pentagon officials said that they were unable to find any records indicating Mr. Delgado had served with the United States military in Vietnam, but that they could not rule out that possibility.