El Paso Times
A shootout in Jurez just south of the Zaragoza bridge left three suspects dead
Monday morning, Jurez officials said.
Juárez police Chief Julián Leyzaola said Monday that Johnny "El Tin Tan" Morales González, a member of the New Juárez Cartel, is responsible for recent attacks on the city's police force.
Those attacks included Monday's shootout just south of the Zaragoza Bridge that left three suspects dead, three police officers wounded and three suspects under arrest.
Juárez Mayor Héctor Murguía said the purpose of releasing Morales' identity was to encourage citizens to report any information about Morales' whereabouts to local authorities.
Also, Murguia said city officials have managed to pinpoint nine criminal cells that might be behind the attacks against police officers. He did not elaborate.
Jurez police arrested three people and seized weapons and other items in
connection with an attack against police officers.
During Monday's attack, the suspects opened fire and threw a grenade at police officers who were filling their cars at a gas station, officials said. The grenade did not detonate.
"They (the suspects) showed up as kamikazes against our officers," Murguía said. "Our officers managed to spare their own lives." As a precautionary measure, Juárez police officers are now under orders to stay at several hotels, with around-the-clock surveillance.
It will cost city taxpayers around $1.54 million to house and protect the officers.
Murguía said some public projects would be canceled to cover expenses.
"I have no choice," Murguía said. "Due to several attacks against Juárez police officers, where some of them have died, they have been sheltered in several motels." Police officers have been directed to wear plain clothes when their shifts end and carry their weapons home.
Monday's shootout follows a fatal trend against police officers here that has left eight of them slain so far this year.
"Juárez officers are still doing their jobs, at the expense of their own lives, to serve and protect the community," Murguía said.
"Those (officers) who are afraid to die in the line of duty must quit the police force,² he said. "We don't need them." Murguía encouraged Juárez's citizens to report any crime in order to deter such activity.
"It is crucial to point out that criminals might hide from the police," Murguía said. "But they (the criminals) can't flee from the citizens." Murguía took office in October 2010. Since then, 63 Juárez police officers have been slain, according to figures provided by officials and news archives. Shots fired during Monday's ambush could be heard at international bridge tollbooths.
Gunmen attacked police at Gomez Morin and Clouthier streets in Juarez Monday
morning. Three suspects were killed.
Three suspects, all in their mid-20s, were found on the ground with fatal head wounds, according to the Chihuahua Attorney General's office.
Late Monday, Juárez police arrested three additional suspects. They have been identified as José Samuel López Luévano, 19, the driver of one vehicle reportedly used in the shootout; Martín Pacheco Galindo, 22; and Silvia Adriana Loya Mendoza, 22, wife of one of the slain suspects.
Among the items Juárez police seized included three U.S. passports, two of which had similar photos but different names, a police spokesperson said.
Police also seized three visas, two Mexican identifications, several weapons and drugs, and narco banners.
On Saturday, a Juárez police officer was slain. That happened after Leyzaola said last Friday recent threats against police officers have been coming from the New Juárez Cartel.
González, whom Leyzaola is pinpointing as the group¹s ring leader, is a former member of the Los Aztecas gang.
Drug violence experts believe the New Juárez Cartel is a spinoff of the Juárez Cartel after that organization suffered heavy losses within its leadership in 2011.
During the shootout, officers pursued the suspects, who fled the scene in a Ford Explorer vehicle, and killed them.
Several streets were closed to traffic as officers chased the suspects. All three wounded officers were taken to local hospitals and are expected to recover.
Police seized 250 bullet casings as well as two rifles, two handguns, and a fragmentation grenade with its trigger device activated, Chihuahua state prosecutors said.
Jurez police arrested three people and seized weapons and other items in
connection with an attack against police officers this morning.
Authorities also took custody of a navy blue 2002 Ford Explorer that was reported as stolen last Tuesday, and a white Lumina found at a hotel parking lot, officials said.
Murguía, in a speech delivered at a local school Monday, said Juarez's citizens should be proud of their police force.
"The main thing here is to recover the peace that is so yearned for in this city," he said.
Attacks against Juárez police officers come after finding about 10 banners last Wednesday, reportedly signed by New Juárez Cartel members, scattered across the city.
Those messages, addressed to Leyzaola, threatened to kill one police officer per day and force Leyzaola to step down. Murguía dismissed those statements.
"Leyzaola is not going to quit," Murguía said. "I would rather step down before Leyzaola does, and that is not going to happen since I am an elected official." On Saturday morning, a Juárez police officer was shot to death near Cártamo and Garambullo streets in the Granjero neighborhood.
Julián Armando Juárez Baena, 35, was found riddled with bullets next to a red pickup.
Forensics specialists recovered several casings from AK-47 and AR-15 rifles, state prosecutors said.
On Friday morning, two Juárez police officers, a man and a woman, were gunned down en route to work.
Last Wednesday, two other officers were shot to death at the end of their shifts, while another officer was slain earlier that day.
Previous 2 p.m.
A shootout in Juárez just south of the Zaragoza bridge left three suspects dead, three police officers wounded and one suspect in custody Monday morning, Juárez officials said.
The shootout happened at Ramón Rayón Street and Manuel J. Clouthier Ave., a couple of miles from the Zaragoza bridge, when an undisclosed number of Juárez police officers stopped at a gas station to fill their cars, a Juárez police spokesperson said.
The attack against police forces in Juárez happened after a Juárez cop was slain Saturday, leaving eight Juárez police officers killed this year.
Meanwhile, Juárez police officers were sheltered for their own safety in undisclosed motels around the city, officials said Monday.
During the shootout, officers pursued and caught up with three suspects who fled the scene in a Ford Explorer, killing them, Juárez police said in a press release.
A fourth suspect was captured and arrested after he was hiding inside a nearby hotel.
Several streets were shut down as officers chased the suspects. The three wounded officers were taken to local hospitals and are expected to recover, officials said.
Police seized two rifles, two handguns, and a fragmentation grenade.
Authorities also took custody of a blue Ford Explorer and white Lumina found at a hotel parking lot, officials said.
No motive for the attack has been found.
In a speech delivered to people at a local school Monday, Juárez Mayor Héctor Murguía said Juárez's citizens should be proud of their police force. "The main thing here is to recover the peace (that is) so yearned for in this city," Murguía said.
These attacks against Juárez police officers follow a discovery of about 10 banners last Wednesday, reportedly signed by members of the So-called New Juárez Cartel, splattered in several locations around the city.
Those messages, addressed to Juárez Police Chief Julián Leyzaola, threatened to kill a police officer on a daily basis to force Leyzaola to resign.
Saturday morning, a Juárez police officer was shot to death near Cártamo and Garambullo streets, at Granjero neighborhood.
The slain officer, Julián Armando Juárez Baena, 35, was riddled with bullets next to a red pickup.
Forensics specialists recovered several casings from AK-47 and AR-15 rifles, state prosecutors said.
On Friday morning, two Juárez police officers, a man and a woman, were gunned down in their way to work, officials said.
On Wednesday, two other officers were shot to death at the end of their shifts, while another officer was slain earlier.
Juárez officials sheltered Juárez police officers in undisclosed motels around the city Monday, with surveillance around the clock, for their own safety, Juárez authorities said in a press release.
It's crazy how the Sinaloa Cartel are the one's who are invading someone else's territory but it's the Juarez Cartel that have become the bad guys. They are destroying their own people and their own city.
ReplyDeleteThe mayor is a brave man to have taken this job and Leyzaola is a true warrior. I respect how they have each other's backs and how they are protecting their police.
Does anyone know if Mexico has a license to carry law. If not they should pass one. The criminals already carry guns. Might as well give the honest citizens the right to carry and possibly protect themselves. In fact. They should just make every good honest citizen a deputy. Have them come in for training one day a week so they can carry a gun and a radio everyday. So when the police need back-up or if they see something. Help can be there in minutes.
ReplyDeleteIs it a police state if everyone is the police.
ReplyDelete:) We should do that in the u.S.
ajulio leyzaola is not the good guy they lead to believe at all.. he is a murderer, he should resign.. this is not helping the juarez people at all, the police go around in 3 to 4 cars at a time to stop one car.. they are now only protecting themselves and the streets are as violent as they were before.. so many people that have had incidents with leyzaola have disappeared, all the ones that say the bad things he does just appear dead, nobody believes him in juarez anymore.. its just best to resign and put a police chief that will go after all cartels with the same intensity and not side with el chapo like all the out of town police military federales have all this time.. juarez people are tired of this corruption especially the juarez cartel
ReplyDeleteGreat. Now even assassins in Mexico are Eagles fans.
ReplyDeletetheyres no way citizens could be able to have guns to protect themselves.. its important to note many live in extreme poverty this would only generate even more violence and theft.. its important to note that in juarez if you guys listen to the radio stations giving information of people who call and tell their stories how bad the situation is.. especially with the police, and well leyzaola and teto gave el tin tan as the juarez cartel leader which was all a lie.. people are fed up with this u can see with daily callers saying how the police extorts them and robs the people everywhere.. the citizenship is more afraid of cops than getting robbed by thugs because the cops are worse and some people even say it a good thing the killed so and so cop because he was killing, extorting, etc.. also from everyday callers u see how one sided this battle is, police departments dont get attacked like dogs when they are aprehending the same manner all ilicit groups and in this case it is obvious the municipal police is going straight for the juarez cartel as all corporations have been doing for the past 4 or 5 years.. the citizenship and police force will have leyzaola resign and that is a fact in order to prevent any more bloodshed of police officers just because of his debt to the sinaloa cartel from receiving his bribes..
ReplyDeletethat's what the cartel de Juarez memebers look like when they don't have mask HAHAAA fatties
ReplyDeleteAhrrrr,the poor cartels.How dare the police do their job,and try to clean these dogs off the streets,to let honest peaceful people live their lives without fear.How dare the police stop,and chase a pickup with armed men inside?I don't give a fuck what cartel it is.THERE IS NO GOOD CARTEL!They are all rats,for interfering with people who have done them no wrong.They took the gloves off,when they started targeting civilians who have nothing to do with cartels.The gloves need to come off further,and execute any cartel member who carry's an automatic gun on his person.Guns are banned in Mexico,so what are people doing riding in convoy with AKs/AR15s?Collecting for a good cause?Shoot them,don't let another young Marina,Police,Army etc,lose his life for these mutts.
ReplyDeleteEverybody knew that ..they put that in banners around juarez ..what a dumbass mayor
ReplyDeleteI have to laugh at these comments that Leyzaola is a murderer. Geez that is EXACTLY what is needed in Juarez. I hope he is organizing paramilitary death squads and personally executing these fuckers. Mexico desperately needs more murderers like him. I wish Calderon was a first class murderer killing everyone in Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros. A lot more killing needs to be done to eliminate the cartels especially in those three cities.
ReplyDelete5:07 am
ReplyDeleteGood comment. I like Leyzaola but maybe you know more because you sound like you actually live in Juarez.
leyzaola dont know shit
ReplyDeleteLMAO at many of these comments but I applaud Leyloza for standing up to these criminals that are directly affecting the citizens of Juarez. Sure he may bend some rules here and there but he is a good man with a good heart.
ReplyDelete