WATCH the moment Argentina’s VP Cristina Kirchner was almost assassinated

A man attempted to shoot Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner near her home in Buenos Aires on Thursday.

The incident took place in Buenos Aires’ upscale Recoleta neighborhood.

In a video shared on social media, Kirchner was seen getting out of her car the moment when a man approaches her and points a gun directly at her, a few centimeters away. However, he was unable to fire the pistol, apparently because it was poorly loaded.

Addressing the nation on the incident, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez said “Cristina remains alive, because, for a reason that has not yet been technically confirmed, the gun which contained five bullets did not fire despite the trigger having been pulled.

“This is the most serious event that has happened since we restored democracy in 1983.”

“I saw this arm come up over my shoulder behind me with a gun, and with people around me, he was subdued,” a supporter of Kirchner, who did not give his name, told AFP.

VIDEO: The moment a man in a crowd pulled a loaded gun on Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Security Minister Anibal Fernandez said a suspect had been arrested on Thursday night but investigators still needed to examine the crime scene and circumstances surrounding the incident.

Local media reported that the suspect was a 35-year-old Brazilian national.

President Fernandez, however, declared Friday a public holiday to allow people to “express themselves in defense of the life of democracy and in solidarity with our vice president.”