|
15 die in a bar massacre in Chihuahua city -- UPDATED X4
 For a map, click here For a map of Chihuahua state, click here. This story will be updated as new information becomes available. By Chris Covert Rantburg.com A total of 15 individuals were shot to death and another two were wounded in a shooting at a bar in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Friday night, according to Mexican news accounts. The shooting took place around 2100 hrs at the bar El Colorado near the intersection of calles Cipres and Gonzalez Cossio in Las Granjas colony. The shooting followed a familiar pattern: at least ten armed suspects exited from five vehicles, entered the bar and began shooting. Some of the shooters appeared to be underaged. Upon exiting the bar, the shooters fired their weapons into the air to scare away onlookers before fleeing aboard their vehicles. El Diario news daily reported that the seven armed suspects were dressed in black tactical gear with a skull patch on their uniform. Commenters at BorderlandBeat.com are saying it was an armed group associated with the Nueve Gente alliance called Antrax. The news daily also said one of the dead was an unidentified female and one of the wounded was also female, both employees of the bar. Tiempo news daily reported that an unknown number of musicians were among the victims. Also among the dead were two journalists, Dr. Francisco Javier Moya, a news director at a Chihuahua city radio station and Hector Javier Salinas Aguirre, who owned the website futuro.mx. Nine of the dead were identified also as: Rodolfo Cardona Lagos, 72, Federico Perez Moreno, 41, José Luis Vazquez Garcia, 64, Jorge Alberto Aragon Cerna, 47, Cristian Chavez Jaimes, 35, Jose Luis Herrera Pichardo, 59, Efren Anaya Vazquez , 48, Miriam Vazquez Torres, 25 and Arellanes Enemecio, 52. Originally reported as 13, two of the victims died while receiving medical attention. The two remaining wounded are reportedly in delicate condition. La Polaka news daily reports the attack was a response to the detention of La Linea leader Guillermo Castillo Rubio by Policia Federal agents in Queretero state last Wednesday. La Linea is the enforcement wing of the Juarez drug cartel. La Linea has suffered a number of setbacks to their security structure due to intensified security in northern Mexico, especially in Chihuahua state and in Ciudad Juarez. Last August Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, AKA "El Diego", was arrested following a brief firefight and pursuit by a special Polica Federal unit. At the time of his arrest, Acosta Hernandez was one of the bloodiest drug capos with a confessed 1,500 murders to his credit, including US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents. His replacement, Arturo Bautista, 31, AKA El Mil Amores was detained in December in Juarez by Juarez municipal police agents at a safe house with three other associates. According to press sources, Castillo Rubio has been forced to flee Chihuahua state due to increased pressure from police, and was conducting his enforcement operations from Queretaro state. Like Acosta Hernandez, he was detained by a Polica Federal special operations force. A subtext in the detention of Castillo Rubio was that the Juarez cartel had not yet designated a replacement for Bautista following his detention four months ago, forcing Castillo Rubio to assume duties as La Linea chief. Castillo Rubio was Acosta Hernandez's boss during at least part of El Diego's reign of terror. Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com Posted by: badanov 2012-04-21 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=343209 |
