Shooting of Eugenio Nain

Eugenio Sebastián Nain Caniumil was a Chilean Carabineros police officer of Mapuche descent, born April 13, 1996, in Temuco, capital of the Araucanía Region. He joined the Carabineros on January 16, 2016, and at the time of his death was married to Daihanna Sabrina Pereira Soto, with two young children. His half-brother, Iván Antonio Vidal Caniumil, is also a police officer.

On the morning of Friday, October 30, 2020, Nain was among a group of Carabineros dispatched to Ruta 5 Sur, near the Cantera de Metrenco sector in Temuco, where a protest had blocked the highway with barricades. He arrived at the scene in an unarmored vehicle. A video recorded from a moving truck, lasting almost a minute, captured a loud shot heard shortly after Nain exited the vehicle. He was transported to the Regional Hospital of Temuco, where he died. The shooting occurred during the broader social context of the Araucanía Conflict and the Chilean social outburst, and the armed group responsible has not been identified.

The killing prompted strong reactions from Chilean officials. Mario Rozas, then-General Director of the Carabineros, described feeling "anger and impotence," calling the act a cowardly assassination and appealing to the public for help identifying those responsible. President Sebastián Piñera condemned the act and called for an end to violence. Then-Minister of the Interior Víctor Pérez Varela called the killing "a painful event for Chile and La Araucanía" and visited the area the same day. Nain's uncle and fellow officer, Benjamín Olave Huichaleo, criticized the working conditions officers faced in the field and the hospital response.

The Mapuche community of Lof Rofue issued a statement saying they had no further information about the circumstances of the officer's death, while expressing regret for the death of a Mapuche person, and simultaneously voicing continued grief over Mapuche people killed by Chilean and Argentine state forces without receiving justice.

On January 13, 2021, Nain was posthumously promoted to noncommissioned officer in a ceremony at the Temuco Police Training School, attended by Carabineros General Director Ricardo Yáñez and Minister of the Interior Rodrigo Delgado. Yáñez called the recognition an expression of the institution's collective feeling in the face of a painful situation. Nain's widow, Daihanna Pereira, attended with their children and spoke about his devotion to his work. Minister Delgado referred to Nain as "another martyr of the Carabineros." Separately, Nain's aunt stated her belief that he was targeted not for being a police officer, but for being Mapuche, and said the family had been "left abandoned."

As of the available reporting, no individuals have been publicly identified, charged, or convicted in connection with the shooting.