During the massacre, soldiers from the Atonal Battalion attacked and killed four Dutch journalists and a disputed number of guerrillas from the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).

[4][5] The paramilitaries and death squads targeted rural peasants, journalists, and human rights workers, labeling them as guerrillas and co-combatants of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).

[6][7][8] On 24 February 1982, four Dutch journalists arrived at the Hotel Alameda in San Salvador in preparations to do reporting on the ongoing Salvadoran Civil War.

[1][9] At around 5 p.m., the journalists and their guide turned off the main road and drove up a road called Calle Santa Rita connecting El Paraíso to Cantón Piedras Gordas, Santa Rita, and San Rafael, where they met 3 more guerrillas named "Martín," "Carlos," and "Tello," after which, their driver, Armin Wertz [de], returned to San Salvador since they planned to stay with the guerrillas for several days.

[1] According to Thomas Buergenthal, a member of the United Nations' Truth Commission for El Salvador, "the military waited for them and basically executed them.

[9] José Napoleón Duarte, the president of the JRG, visited the site and stated on 25 March, "it was not a premeditated act, in my opinion, it was an accident".

[9] On 15 March 2023, Vamos deputy Claudia Ortiz presented a proposal to the Legislative Assembly to hold a moment of silence to commemorate the journalists' deaths, stating "their only crime was to tell the truth about what was occurring in our country and reporting the abuses of the State against the civil population during the armed conflict" ("su único crimen fue decir la verdad sobre lo que ocurría en nuestro país reportando los abusos del Estado hacia la población civil durante el conflicto armado").

[9] Bruce Hazelwood, an American military trainer present at the barracks that day, confirmed that the army knew about the meeting between the journalists and the guerrillas and that they planned an ambush.

[14] Those seeking justice remain hopeful since José Guillermo García, another Salvadoran war criminal, was extradited to El Salvador in 2016.

[12] On 16 October 2022, Salvadoran judge María Mercedes Arguello ordered the arrests of several retired military officials, including General José Guillermo García and Colonel Francisco Antonio Morán, in relation to the massacre.