Details are unclear, but police suspect the 33-year-old Barcelona de Guayaquil defender was the intended victim. He was killed along with another person, whose identity police have not released. A third person was injured in the attack.
Ecuador is on a path of violence, with at least 9,000 people murdered this year, the highest number ever recorded in the country. At least three other footballers have been victims of deadly violence in Ecuador this fall.
Pineida played eight times for Ecuador and spent almost his entire career in his home country, except for two years when he played for Fluminense in Brazil.
