Ecuadorian authorities arrested two men on Thursday, following the assassination of Ecuadorian prosecutor César Suárez in broad daylight just 24 hours earlier. At the direction of Ecuador’s Attorney General Diana Salazar, Suárez was investigating a group of armed terrorist who stormed a TV station live on-air with rifles and automatic sub-machine guns on January 9.

Speaking at a press conference after the arrests, Police Chief General Víctor Herrera said that police believe the two individuals belong to a terrorist group, called ChoneKiller. Police have not yet determined the motive for Suárez’s killing. 

Earlier in January, the President of Ecuador Daniel Noboa Azin declared an “internal armed conflict” after a series of organized terror attacks throughout the country, including the murder of hostages in Guayaquil prison and the storming of a a TV station by armed gunmen. It was the attack on that TV station that was the target of Suárez’s criminal probe, authorities said.

During the hostage situation on January 9, Azin’s office released a statement, reading, “President Daniel Noboa Azin ordered the Armed Forces to carry out military operations to neutralize [the] groups [responsible for the organized violence].” Within hours of the January 9 raid, The Office of Ecuador’s Attorney General announced that 13 people, including 2 minors, have been arrested in connection with the TV station attack. In total, nearly 2,000 people have been arrested by Ecuadorian authorities, according to reporting from Reuters.

Reuters also reported that Suárez did not have a protective detail at the time he was killed and that, according to local authorities, no such request was submitted for Wednesday’s hearing because it was to be held virtually.