According to the president of Argentina, a man attempted to shoot politically influential Vice President Cristina Fernández outside her house, but the weapon went off accidentally.

According to reports, her security guards immediately subdued the guy on Thursday night.

The current president, Alberto Fernández, has said that the man’s attempt to fire a handgun resulted in no shots being fired.

A guy “pointed a handgun at her head and squeezed the trigger,” the president declared on national television after the shooting. He said that despite having pushed the trigger, the gun failed to discharge all five of its rounds.

Although the vice president was standing amid a mob of her supporters, he was quickly overwhelmed and knocked to the ground without any injuries.

Vice President’s bodyguard Gina De Bai told The Associated Press she heard “the sound of the trigger being pulled.” She claims that security officers rushing the guy made her notice that he was carrying a pistol.

It was the “most severe episode since we reclaimed democracy” in 1983 from a military dictatorship, as President Fernández put it, and he appealed on political leaders and society at large to condemn the attempted shooting.

The vice president is now on trial for suspected acts of corruption during her leadership from 2007 to 2015, allegations she firmly rejects and which have led to a ring of her supporters outside her house in the affluent Recoleta area of Buenos Aires.

Local TV footage showed Fernández being greeted by a crowd of supporters as she stepped out of her car, and then a man held out what appeared to be a gun. It appears that those around the gunman are just as shocked as the vice president, who ducks for cover.

Social media footage purports to show the moment the gun barrel comes close to touching Fernández’s face.

According to a Security Ministry source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the suspected shooter has been identified as Brazilian national Fernando André Sabag Montiel. According to the official, he did not have any prior convictions. I should mention that the Bersa was.32 calibre.

So that “the Argentine people may, in peace and tranquilly, express itself in favour of life, democracy, and in solidarity with our vice president,” the president made Friday a holiday.

Since last week, when a prosecutor sought for a 12-year sentence for Fernández and a lifelong restriction in holding public office in the corruption case, her supporters have been gathering in the streets around her house in protest.

Promptly after the event, government authorities denounced what they deemed to be an assassination attempt.

Economy Minister Sergio Massa said, “When hatred and violence are forced over the discourse of ideas, communities are damaged and produce scenarios like the one experienced today: an assassination attempt.”

In a press statement, cabinet members expressed their “energetically condemnation” of the attempted killing of the vice president. What has transpired tonight is quite serious, and it poses a serious danger to democracy, institutions, and the rule of law.

Conservative Mauricio Macri, who took office after Fernández’s term ended and who now serves as president, also spoke out against the assault. Macri remarked on Twitter that the judicial and security forces needed to “immediately and profoundly clarify” the situation.

President of the Republican Proposal party Patricia Bullrich spoke out against President Fernández’s response to the assault, calling it “playing with fire.” Rather than conduct a thorough investigation into the event, she said, “he charges the opposition and the press, decreeing a national holiday to organise activists.”

Since the weekend, when the vice president’s supporters battled with police in the streets near her residence despite efforts to evacuate the area, tensions have been high in the Recoleta neighbourhood. After the fights, there was less police protection surrounding the vice president’s residence.

Every day at approximately noon, Fernández leaves her residence to drive to the Senate. On the way, she stops to thank fans and sign autographs. Every night, she follows the same pattern.

In the aftermath of the event, supporters of the vice president were eager to blame the opposition for what they characterised as harsh and violent rhetoric. Several high-ranking officials have made similar claims in recent days, claiming that the opposition is actively seeking a bloodbath.

“This is a historic event in Argentina that must have a before and after,” stated Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof.

Many regional leaders have also spoken out against the incident.

On Twitter, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stated, “We extend our support to the vice president in this attempt on her life.”

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, who is running for president in Brazil in next month’s election, has also voiced support for Fernández, calling her a “victim of a fascist criminal who doesn’t know how to accept differences and diversity.”