FBI will assist in investigation

Mexican government invites bureau to probe nine deaths

The Mexican government has invited the FBI to participate in the investigation into the attack on three carloads of women and children from an isolated community just south of the Arizona border.

In a joint statement Sunday, Mexico’s Security and Citizen Protection Secretariat and Foreign Relations Secretariat said the FBI would be invited to “accompany” investigators from the federal prosecutor’s office examining the shootings that killed nine people Nov. 4.

Authorities have said gunmen opened fire on the families from a fundamentalist community as they drove through a remote and rugged region, killing three women and six children. All held U.S. and Mexican citizenship, relatives said.

Officials at the FBI confirmed that they would be “providing assistance at the invitation of the Mexican government with the investigation into the recent attack against American citizens.”

FBI agents working in Mexico would be unarmed while working alongside Mexican investigators, according to the Mexican agencies’ statement, and would “perform certain binational, technical support activities.”

The Mexican government described its collaboration with the FBI as “broad” and said it occurs in “various federal Mexican institutions responsible for the pursuit of justice.”

The slayings of the women and children captured intense international attention and cast a critical eye on the security policies of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

With President Donald Trump offering support – “The United States stands ready, willing & able to get involved & do the job quickly and effectively,” he tweeted the day after the ambush – security analysts see Mexico having little choice but to allow the FBI in.

Analysts interviewed by USA TODAY say highprofile murders and crimes involving foreigners from countries such as the United States have a higher chance of being brought to justice.

“The U.S. role adds a lot of pressure, and I can imagine that some kind of result will be presented,” said Falko Ernst, senior Mexico analyst for the International Crisis Group. “Whether or not it’s to the satisfaction of the U.S. is another question.”