The governor of Argentina's Rio Negro province has been fatally shot in a mysterious New Year's day shooting at his vacation home in Patagonia, officials said Sunday. Governor Carlos Soria, 61, was just a few weeks into his tenure as head of the southern state when he was fatally shot at his residence near the town of General Roca at around 5:00 am local time.
Soria, a member of the ruling Peronist party, was at home with his wife and son at the time of the shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and died a short while later. An investigation was under way but officials had ruled out suicide.
Soria had held the governorship only since early December. His deputy Alberto Weretilneck will succeed him in the state's highest office.