Gastón Mansilla Yupanqui

Who is Gastón Mansilla Yupanqui?

Mr. Gastón Gabriel Mansilla Yupanqui, born in 1990, is a university student at Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal who killed Víctor Ríos Acevedo on Saturday January 7, 2012 in an apparent act of self-defense near the intersection of Tacna Avenue and Colmena Avenue, in Downtown Lima, Peru.

According to Mr. Mansilla, two muggers approached him armed with switchblades and demanded his cell phone and backpack. Mr. Mansilla, who had a valid concealed weapons permit at the time of the attack, drew his .38 and during the scuffle fired at point blank range killing Víctor Ríos Acevedo. Mr. Acevedo's accomplice, Christian Arenas Perona, attempted to flee, but was detained by the police after a few meters. According to Mr. Mansilla's attorney, there is an eyewitness who corroborates Mr. Mansilla's story.

Mr. Mansilla was arrested and charged with second degree murder and/or violation of the Peruvian Law of Proportionality, a law that had been repealed in 2003. Under the terms of this law, one was entitled to defend oneself only with a weapon similar to that employed by one's attacker. In this case the student, who was attacked by two knife-wielding assailants, would have been required to use a knife in order to avoid legal complications.