[1] The event marked one of the deadliest confrontations during the 2022–2023 Peruvian political protests,[2] which erupted following the ousting and imprisonment of former president Pedro Castillo.

Peruvian National Police opened fire on demonstrators, who were primarily from the Aymara and Quechua Indigenous communities, resulting in the deaths of at least 18 civilians, including a medical worker, and injuries to over 100 individuals.

The massacre unfolded as part of a broader wave of civil unrest fueled by longstanding grievances in Peru’s marginalized rural regions, where protesters demanded early elections and Castillo’s release.

In the aftermath, allegations surfaced that police infiltrators and excessive use of force contributed to the deaths and injuries, leading to calls for accountability within Peru and abroad.

[13] During Castillo's presidency, Congress was dominated by right-wing parties opposed to him,[14] with legislators attempting to impeach multiple times using political avenues.

[22] The Constitutional Court released a statement: "No one owes obedience to a usurping government and Mr. Pedro Castillo has made an ineffective coup d'état.

[33] The Boluarte government first responded with police attempting to quell the protests, though later resulted with declaring a national state of emergency and using the military to repress demonstrations.

[4][49][50] Two days prior to the massacre, protesters attempted to enter Inca Manco Cápac International Airport on 7 January, though they were dispersed by police using tear gas.

[49] Police also used excessive force on the citizens of Juliaca; officers were seen trying to burn a motor-taxi, launching tear gas from helicopters at individuals, breaking windows of houses and attacking a child.

[50] Following the demonstrations of the previous day, Aymara and Quechua groups in surrounding regions announced that they would march to Juliaca to protest against oppression by authorities.

[53] At around 2:00 pm PET, a man who was returning home from selling cobblestones was shot by police with a shotgun, suffering over 70 gunshot wounds to his heart and lungs, becoming the first victim.

[3][54] According to The New York Times, the shooting was a violation of protocols, writing that per regulations, "when [police are] faced with protesters throwing blunt objects like rocks, officers should use rubber bullets, aiming at the lower extremities".

[3] President Boluarte, who was meeting at the National Agreement Capacity event in an attempt to diffuse protests, "showed her coldest side" according to El País when she announced the death of the man, stating "I have just been informed that a civilian has just died in Puno.

[59] According to Dany Humpire Molina, former manager of Expertise at the Public Prosecutor's Office and a doctor in forensic science, "The projectiles seem to have been fired by AKM rifles, which is weapons used by the National Police, ...

[3] Edgar Stuardo Ralón Orellana of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, stated "we do not find in people something that said that they are responding to some kind of another organization, but an authentic manifestation of a discontent with the abandonment that that region (Puno) has historically had".

[61] The former head of the National Directorate of Intelligence (DINI), General Wilson Barrantes Mendoza, also criticized the Boluarte government's response, stating that accusations of foreign involvement were "a distraction to confuse the population, noting that it has an external component.

[6] Prime Minister of Peru, Alberto Otárola, initially reported that Soncco was burned alive in his patrol car, though a later autopsy showed that the officer was killed due to brain trauma.

[58] Officer Ronald Villasante Toque, Soncco's partner, reported that their lieutenant Anthony Herrera Choquehuanca order the two to go to Tambopata, a quiet area.

[65] In June 2023, IDL-Reporteros reported that the company operating the Coronel FAP Alfredo Mendívil Duarte Airport, Aeropuertos Andinos del Perú, said that it deleted video footage of the incident and was not asked by government investigators to provide any images.