Gunmen Open Fire From Moving Vehicle In Juárez, Two Dead As Three Fight For Life

Ciudad Juárez, Mexico— Two men were killed and three others wounded Saturday night when gunmen in a white SUV rolled down the windows and sprayed a corner where neighbors had gathered outside a convenience store in the Parajes del Sur neighborhood of Ciudad Juárez. The shooting lasted seconds.

It was 9:40 p.m. The corner on Mesa Central was busy. Kids had just left a soccer game. The SUV, a late-model Tahoe without plates, slowed. A rifle barrel came out. Then automatic fire. At least 30 casings were found later, 7.62 caliber. Two men, ages 24 and 29, dropped where they stood. Three others, including a 17-year-old girl buying soda, were hit in the legs and back.

“They didn’t shout. They just shot,” said a woman who lives across the street. She pulled her two children to the floor when the shots started. “My neighbor was bleeding on the sidewalk. We used a shirt to press the wound.” The girl’s mother said she heard the shots from inside. “I thought it was cohetes. Then my daughter screamed.”

Municipal police arrived 14 minutes later. The ambulance took longer. One patrol officer said the area has no fixed checkpoint at night. “We patrol when we can. There are 300 colonias and 40 units,” he said. He would not go on record. Juárez has logged over 1,100 homicides this year, most tied to street-level drug disputes.

The state prosecutor’s office said the two dead had prior arrests for possession. The attack fits a pattern of retaliation between cells fighting for corner sales. No arrests. The SUV was found burned two kilometers away in an empty lot. Inside, police found two rifles and a jerry can.

Residents are used to this. They clean the blood themselves. They close early. One man who runs the convenience store said he will shut down for a week. “If I open, they come back. If I close, I lose money. Either way I lose,” he said.

The mayor’s office did not issue a statement Saturday. The state security roundtable said it would “reinforce operations” in the southeast sector.

The injured are in Hospital General, one in critical condition. The corner is still cordoned.

The investigation is open. The shooters are gone.