12-year-old-boy thrown from bridge: Found still alive by father 3 days later

He was thrown after refusing to murder a man

A young boy was ambushed by a gang then thrown from a bridge after refusing to murder a bus driver. Three days later, his father found his broken son still alive amid dense foliage beneath the Incensio Bridge in Guatemala City.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Twelve-year-old Angel Ariel Escalante Perez was walking home from school when gangland thugs ambushed him and gave him two choices: shoot a random bus driver or be killed. 

Perez's father is a bus driver so the boy bravely refused, saying he would rather die than kill an innocent man. It was then Perez was given another choice: death by machete or to be thrown from a bridge. The youth chose the bridge and was unceremoniously thrown over the Incensio Bridge in Guatemala City. He fell 450 feet -and survived.

The boy landed in thick foliage but was critically injured and unable to find help. He lay where he fell for three days, until his father and search teams finally found him. 

 His father, Luis Escalante, held his son and the two shared a heartbreaking moment to reunite. Perez was dying and was immediately rushed to a hospital. 

Though medics fought to save him, Angel passed away fifteen days following his rescue.

 Guatemala fire service spokesman Javier Soto explained the incident, saying:

"The father said his son had been gone for 72 hours and told him that six alleged kidnappers threw him off because he refused to kill a bus driver. The child was asked how he would prefer to die - whether it would be through stabbing or by being thrown off a bridge - and he chose the latter."

Human Rights activist Edgar Guerra said, "This type of phenomenon can be seen much more frequently - the use of underage children for murders."

Perez's death happened in July but has resurfaced following the story of 14-year-old Ulises Abraham, who was approached and offered the equivalent of roughly $1,860 in USD (Ł1,200) for killing Guillermo Gastelum Jacques. 

Jacques was shot in the face, chest and shoulders and was later rushed to the hospital but died on the operating table in Tijuana. The reason for Jacques' hit has yet to be announced. 

Abraham admitted he was given a revolver and was pressured to kill Jacques at point-blank range.

Mexican police were initially stunned at Abraham's age but several children have been exploited to do a series of illegal activities because they are too young to be prosecuted.

Organized crime gangs in Latin America often recruit children who are not educated or have poor backgrounds. The young kids are coerced to smuggle drugs or guns, join gangs and work as hit men.

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