Julio Rubén Sánchez Espinoza died that day at 14:15 hours, at the Posta Central in Santiago, due to a pelvic gunshot wound with an exit wound, as stated in the Medical Death Certificate from the Legal Medical Institute.

According to the official version from the Ejército, while Sánchez Espinoza was attending a technical course for radio operators in his capacity as a conscript at the Non-Commissioned Officers School, he was accidentally shot by another uniformed officer who was handling a rifle.

Transferred to the Posta Central, he passed away the following day.

The Superior Council, notwithstanding the accidental nature of his death, deemed it attributable to the conditions of extreme tension to which military personnel with little experience were subjected in the performance of their duties. For this reason, it declared Julio Rubén Sánchez Espinoza a victim of the political violence prevailing at the time of his death.