According to the president, the gun was loaded with five bullets. “A man pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger,” he said in a national broadcast after the incident.
The alleged attacker, who was identified by authorities as a 35-year-old man of Brazilian descent, was quickly arrested by police and the weapon seized, according to Reuters. NBC News has not verified the man’s identity. It was not immediately clear whether he has legal representation or what his motive might be.
The president said it was “the most serious incident since we restored democracy”, referring to the end of the country’s military junta in 1983.
“We may disagree, we may have deep differences of opinion, but in a democratic society there can be no hate speech because it breeds violence and there is no possibility of violence coexisting with democracy,” the president said. “Our vice president has been attacked and socially the peace has been disturbed.”
Fernández called for an immediate investigation into the incident, announcing that Friday would be a national holiday in solidarity with his vice president.