Two more killed in San Luis Rio Colo.
Number of homicides in city hits 60 for year
San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., recorded two more killings on the first day of the month, bringing to at least 60 the number of homicides in the city since the start of the year.
Municipal police said one of two men killed in separate incidents on Monday was fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire with police officers that followed a car chase.
The other was killed on the city’s west side Monday night after what was described by residents in the area as a dispute with another, unidentified man police said fled the scene afterwards.
Police said a 19-yearold man identified only by his first and middle name, Christopher Antonio, was fleeing police shortly after 5 a.m. Monday when the vehicle in which he was riding crashed into a utility pole at that intersection.
Police did not disclose what prompted the chase, but said the man got out of the vehicle and began shooting at the pursuing officers, who returned fire, killing him. Two other people who had been in the vehicle were uninjured and taken into custody, police said.
Christopher Antonio had a criminal background and belonged to a gang on the city’s east side, police said.
State police are investigating the incident.
In the second incident at 6:30 p.m., a 35-year-old man identified as Ricardo Ivan was fatally shot during a confrontation with another man in the Ejido San Luis neighborhood on the city’s northwest side.
Neighbors said they heard gunshots and saw a man with whom the victim had been arguing fleeing in a vehicle.
Police said Ricardo Ivan had previous arrests for illegal firearms possession and other crimes.
No arrests had been made in his killing as of Tuesday.
Based on statistics from the Sonora state Department of Public Safety and a tally of murders reported by San Luis Rio Colorado media, the border city across from San Luis, Ariz., has recorded 60 homicides since the start of the year. Authorities have attributed most of the killings to disputes among local drug traffickers.
The mounting death totals have prompted numerous protests by residents who, among other demands, have called for the ouster of the city police chief.