Murder of Commander José Figueroa Cacho
A PCP-SL column of approximately 20 people intercepted a bus at the El Toro lagoon and shot and killed PNP commander José Figueroa Cacho after identifying him among the passengers. The attack was led by 'La Gringa', leader of the Northern Regional Committee of the PCP-SL.
On April 4, 1995, a subversive column of the PCP-SL formed by approximately 20 people intercepted a bus of the "Sanchez Lopez" Company that covered the route Huamachuco-Trujillo, at the height of the "El Toro" lagoon. This place is significant because ten years earlier, in 1985, two officers of the Civil Guard had murdered the García children there. After searching each of the bus passengers, the hikers identified PNP commander José Figueroa Cacho, who was shot and killed. This assassination was directed by Juana Perez, known as 'La Gringa', a 28-year-old leader of the PCP-SL's Northern Regional Committee, who was later captured in Trujillo in June 1995 along with 13 other members of the regional Shining Path leadership.