[1][2] State officials initially reported the killings as having been performed in self-defense, while eyewitnesses and survivors claimed that the victims of the massacre had neither attacked nor received warning from the police.
Additionally, there were no traces of gunpowder found on any of the victims' hands, prompting the local prosecutor to conclude that none of them had fired a gun over the course of the confrontation.
Under questioning, two of the policemen present for the massacre confirmed that they had effectively performed it as an extrajudicial mass execution.
At a press conference, the highest ranking law-enforcement official in the region stated, "There are strong indications this was an execution".
[3] A lawyer who had advised the activists before the killings has consistently been the target of threats since the massacre.