Shootout between Armed Groups and Feds: 5 Dead

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Armed commandos aboard three trucks ambushed federal police on Tuesday, passing through a vehicle in order to open fire.  Five gunmen were killed and the rest of the attackers managed to escape.

This new attack of violence occurred along a local road that connects the communal land Vergeles, located in the municipality of San Fernando, along a gap seven kilometers east of a road checkpoint known as the “Y”, located at kilometer 202 of highway Ciudad Victoria–Matamoros.

In that area, the gunmen passed through a Chevy Cheyenne over a gap and shot up the convoy of the federal forces.  After several minutes exchanging gunfire, the other two trucks with several gunmen on board escaped.

The occupants of the Cheyenne were gunned down; one inside the truck, two in the truck bed, and two more were left scattered in a field of sorghum.

In the agricultural area, an impressive operation was carried out by air and ground in order to locate the two other trucks, but the operation was unsuccessful.

The five bodies were taken to a funeral home in the seat of the municipal government of San Fernando.

Two Identified

In an official statement, the Tamaulipas Coordination Group confirmed that at kilometer 202 of highway San Fernando-Matamoros, at the height of a gap leading to the communal land Loma Alta, federal police officers and Federal Forces Division members were attacked by armed gunmen who were traveling aboard three trucks.

“Upon repelling the aggression in defense for their lives, the federal police shot dead five of the attackers, two of which have been identified as Miguel Muñoz Herrera and José Manuel Medina Méndez.

They were all travelling aboard a white Chevy Cheyenne, without license plates,” he said.

The federal police stated that around 16:30 hours, they were carrying out ground patrols along the highway when they were hit and attacked.

Inside the truck, they secured three high caliber weapons, a .50 caliber Barrett, 33 full magazine cartridges, some loose rounds of ammunition, a fragmentation grenade, four bulletproof vests, and coolers, among other objects.

Source:El Mañana

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