Ciudad Juárez: At Least 7 Killed in Coordinated Attacks Against Local Police

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat (formerly "MX")

Police officers at a crime scene after yesterday's shootouts (photo credit: Diario de Juarez)

Local authorities in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, are under high alert after several gang members carried out a series of coordinated attacks against them last night. At least four cartel members and three police officers were killed. Two policewomen were also wounded in the attacks.

The first murder occurred yesterday evening and was first reported by Diario de Juarez at 20:53 local time. Omar Favela Barraza, a municipal police officer, was shot and killed inside a store on Baja California and Benito Juárez streets in Villas Salvárcar neighborhood. Authorities confirmed that one of his relatives was kidnapped at the store.

The responding police officers reported that nearby residents called the emergency number 911 to report that they heard gunshots and saw a white Nitro pickup drive away. The police later confirmed that the officer who was killed had been suspended nearly a year ago and was under investigation.

Diario de Juarez reported more shootings shortly after the murder. At 21:41, they covered a gunfight between municipal police officers and cartel members on Jumanos street and Zaragoza boulevard. At least one suspect was killed and another was wounded. The dead gunman was wearing a brown bulletproof vest and was killed by gunfire while sitting on the driver seat of his vehicle. Simultaneously, another shootout was reported in Campos Eliseos neighborhood.

After the shootout, the hitmen traveled to Puerto Huelva street in the Parajes del Valle neighborhood, where they killed a man. A second confrontation between policemen and hitmen was recorded in this area. At least two cartel members were killed.

More elements of the municipal police were attacked at 22:01 at the intersection of Independencia and Boulevard Juan Pablo II. An unofficial report indicated that a commander and an element of the municipal police were killed in this attack.

In Cerrada Seina neighborhood at 22:44, a cartel member was gunned down after shooting at a police unit. In the subdivision known as Valle del Sol, a strong operation was deployed when the police was attacked and the entire neighborhood was cordoned off.

When searching for more cartel members in the streets of Ciudad Juarez, municipal police officers opened fire on the armored blue Tahoe truck of the Regional Director of the State Public Security Secretariat, Ricardo Realivázquez Domínguez. The attack was reported at 23:04 local time.

From inside the truck, the police chief informed them via radio frequency that he was inside the vehicle with his bodyguards. However, the police officers shot at the vehicle several times. He survived the attack without injuries, and confirmed that authorities would investigate this particular incident to determine if it was a confusion or a direct attack against him.

The entire municipal police force was on high alert last night following several direct attacks against them from a local gang (photo credit: Diario de Juarez)

Shortly before midnight, at around 23:49, a municipal policeman was found dead in a vacant lot in the San Juana subdivision, near a light tower. More attacks were reported as well in a supermarket located on Acacias and Melchor Ocampo streets in Bellavista neighborhood, where a policewoman was wounded.

Jorge Armando Galindo López, another policeman, was killed on Pimentel street in Adolfo López Mateos neighborhood. Authorities said that it was due to a personal motive and discarded any cartel involvement.

The Ciudad Juarez Municipal Police was not able to identify the group that perpetrated the attacks against its agents. In the past, local gangs have carried out attacks against the police to pressure them following arrests of their members, as previously covered by Borderland Beat.

Raúl Ávila Ibarra, Municipal Public Security Secretary (SSPM), confirmed that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is active in Ciudad Juarez and working with Los Aztecas. He said that 11 CJNG members who were working with Los Aztecas were arrested in a recent investigation.

Sources: Diario de Juarez (full coverage); Borderland Beat archives