President Declares Public Holiday

Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner survived an attempt to kill her on Thursday as the gun jammed.

According to AFP, the suspect identified as a Brazilian national attempted to shoot near her home in Buenos Aires but the gun didn’t fire.

"Cristina remains alive because, for a reason that has not yet been technically confirmed, the gun which contained five bullets did not fire despite the trigger having been pulled," Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez said in an address to the nation.

"This is the most serious event that has happened since we restored democracy" in 1983, Fernandez said.

Footage of the incident showed the man pointing a handgun at close range at Kirchner, who was the country's leader from 2007 to 2015.

Security Minister Anibal Fernandez said a suspect had been arrested on Thursday night but investigators still needed to examine the crime scene and circumstances surrounding the incident.

Meanwhile, President Fernandez declared Friday a public holiday to allow people to "express themselves in defense of the life of democracy and in solidarity with our vice president.”