‘Mariachi’ gunmen kill nine in Mexico
GUNMEN dressed as mar iach i musicia ns opened fire in Mex ico Cit y’s fa med Pla za Gariba ld i, k i l l i ng five people a nd wounding eight, indluding a foreig ner, law enforcement on Saturday.
The five assailants opened fire with rifles and handguns shortly before 22:00 Friday (10am on Saturday in Cam- of ficia ls sa id bodia) as the downtown plaza was filled with partiers enjoying the September 16 Independence Day weekend celebrations.
Investigators later found 60 empty bullet casings on the ground.
“There are five people who have died in the Pla za Gariba ldi incident. Three men died at the scene and t wo women while in hospita l,” a prosecutors’ statement said, f urt her rev ising a death toll initia lly given as t hree, and t hen four.
‘A targeted hit’
The shooters fled aboard three motorcycles, the Mexico City prosecutor’s office said.
Music a nd par t y ing cont i nued unt i l a f ter t he cit y’s chief of public secur it y, Ray mundo Collins, showed up at t he cr ime scene, v ideo footage broadcast on T V showed.
Collins described the attack as a targeted hit. No details were released on the identity of the foreign victim.
Investigators have not given a motive for t he shooting, but did say t hat t wo of the slain men, ages 36 and 46, had been prev iously conv icted for robber y.
The shoot ing eventua l ly emptied t he pla za – one of Mex ico Cit y’s most popula r att ract ions – a nd t he restaura nts a nd bars in t he nea rby st reets.
Police patrol vehicles on Saturday were parked outside venues usually bursting with customers seek ing to pay mariachi musicians to perform.
Until recently Mexico’s cap- ital had been safe from the organized crime-related violence wracking other parts of the country.
Most targeted reprisals have taken place on the city outskirts or in areas where criminal gangs operate.
Plaza Garibaldi is located near the notorious Tepito neighbourhood, where a local gang that distributes drugs in the sprawling capital of 21 million is based. Police have linked that gang to larger cartels such as the Jalisco New Generation.
Mexico has been hit by a wave of violence since deploying the army to fight the country’s powerful drug cartels in 2006.
Since then, more than 200,000 people have been murdered, including a record 28,702 last year.