From the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6382919.stm" target="_blank">BBC</a>

<em>Two circus clowns have been shot dead during a performance in the eastern Colombian city of Cucuta, police say.</em>

<font size="2">The attacker jumped into the arena and fired before fleeing, police chief Jose Humberto Henao told Efe news agency. </font>

<font size="2">Local reports say the audience of about 20 people, mostly children, thought the shooting was part of the show before realising both men had been killed. </font>

<font size="2">Last year, a prominent circus clown, known as Pepe, was also shot dead by a unknown assailant in Cucuta.</font>

Thanks Pete Woodhead!

<!--more--> <font size="2">The motive for the latest killing remains unclear, police said. Local media reports suggest two attackers may have been involved. </font>

<font size="2">One clown was shot in the head as he performed on stage, about an hour into the Circo del Sol's evening show. </font>

<font size="2">The second, named as 18-year-old Franklin Leal, from Cucuta, was then shot as he stood by the ticket booth, according to the newspaper La Opinion. </font>

<font size="2">The travelling circus had set up in a suburb of Cucuta, capital of Norte de Santander province near the Venezuelan border, about 10 days earlier, the paper says.<!-- E BO --> 		                     	</font>