New Mexico man is shot, killed in Juárez

By Aileen B. Flores
El Paso Times

A man killed earlier this week in Juárez was a resident of Albuquerque.

Manuel de Jesús Valdez Alarcón, 35, an engineer with Ethicon Endo-Surgery in Albuquerque, was killed by gunmen Monday.

Chihuahua state officials said that just after 4 p.m., Valdez Alarcón was traveling with his family in a silver Chevrolet Silverado at the intersection of Manuel Gómez Morin Boulevard and Del Estanque Street, in the Rincones de San Marcos subdivision, when men in another vehicle shot and killed him.

Officials could not confirm if the victim was a U.S. citizen. They said a woman and a baby were with Valdez Alarcón at the time of the shooting.

"The woman and the baby were unharmed," said Arturo Sandoval, a spokesman for the Chihuahua State Police in Juárez.
Valdez Alarcón was shot several times in the chest, clavicle and left ear, a police report said.

Representatives from Ethicon Endo-Surgery in Albuquerque confirmed the slaying Friday.

"We are deeply saddened by the untimely passing of Manuel Valdez. He was a valued member of the Ethicon Endo-Surgery family. Our deepest, heartfelt sympathies and prayers go out to his family and friends," said the company vice president, Rob Sackett, in a statement.

Ethicon Endo-Surgery has two manufacturing centers in Juárez.

More than 35 Americans died in Juárez between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31 of this year, while 39 Americans died there in 2008 and 2009 combined, according to U.S. State Department records.

Also on Friday, media reports said that a council member from the town of Guadalupe, east of Juárez, had been kidnapped.
Police said they had heard the incident took place, but that they had not official report on the situation.

The Albuquerque Journal contributed to this report.