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Updated with new information from a radio interview Nunez Rodriguez game with Denise Marker Saturday.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A total of eight individuals were shot to death in an attack at a ranch in Durango state last Sunday, according to Mexican news reports.
According to an article posted on the website of Informador news daily, the attack took place at a ranch owned by the president of Inde municipality, Ernesto Nunez Rodriguez.
According to a news item which appeared on the website of eleconomista.com.mx Wednesday afternoon, Nunez Rodriguez filed a complaint with the Durango state Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) or attorney general charging Inde municipal police were involved in the shooting and subsequent abduction.
According to a news item posted on the website of Animal Politico website, in a radio interview Saturday with Denise Marker, Nunez Rodriguez said that his sister, whom the article fails to identify, had also identified at least some elements of the municipal police who had participated in the assault.
Nunez Rodriguez said in the program the the municipal police were in the pay of a Sinaloa cartel chief who is a plaza chief in Inde, El Oro, San Bernardo, and Ocampo municipalities. He said, without specifically identifying whom, that the municipality provides protection for the unidentified cartel associated plaza chief.
According to the account of the attack provided by Nunez Rodriguez, armed suspects came to the ranch and started shooting, forcing Ernesto Nunez Rodriguez and three other family members to flee to the cellar of their residence. The residence itself was later shot up and destroyed by fire.
The victims identified included four family members, two ranch employees, and two veterinarians visiting from Zacatecas state. Of those one was an unidentified pregnant female and a 4 year old girl, both burned to death.
Rene Nunez Garay, 28 years old, and Juan Angel Nuñez Salas, 19, nephew of the mayor, and Luis Antonio Tinoco Chavez, 28 were among the victims who died in the shooting. All were employed in the cattle business. One of the veterinarians were identified as Luis Uriel Garcia Talavera, 49, identified as an employee of Zacatecas state Secretaria de Desarrollo Agropecuario (SEDAGRO) or Department of Agricultural Development. The other veterinarian was identified as Jose Guadalupe Ortega Valdez.
According to a new account posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily, between two and five unidentified individuals were kidnapped by the shooters during the course of the attack.
In the same account, Nunez Rodriguez denied reports that gunfire was exchanged.
Inde municipal seat is about 12 kilometers southeast of Santa Maria del Oro, which is on Durango state Highway 45.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com