Totolapan Guerrero: Armed Attack by 100 Sicarios Leaves at Least 7 Dead

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Vanguardia

In the communities of Otatlán and Las Ventanas, in San Miguel Totolapan, neighbors reported armed attacks this week, at least seven people have died. The first reports indicate that there were clashes between alleged criminal groups and auto - defense groups.

Neighbors of  Otatlán , in the Guerrero municipality of  San Miguel Totolapan , denounced that on Thursday morning about  100 gunmen fired on the  town , which triggered a  shootout  that left seven  people dead , identified as alleged members of the aggressor group.

The criminal group that  attacked the community arrived early Thursday and the firing began in the morning, witnesses said. The townspeople repelled their attackers.

In addition, there was a  shooting  in  Las Ventanas:

According to neighbors, armed men arrived at the Las Ventanas community in the same municipality and fired from the hills against the houses, but no injuries were reported.

Recently they had attacked Las Ventanas and the families of Otatlán helped them out of their homes to escape the violence, so now they also attacked them.

A first report indicates that the conflicts registered in Las Ventanas and Otatlán occurred because a group headed by a man identified as "Isaac" entered the group, confronted by the auto-defenses of the sierra.

They also reported that "Isaac" was accompanied by a cell that had left  the band Los Tequileros, who intend to seize the drug trafficking routes.

The communities are located in the upper part of the Sierra de Guerrero, about 15 hours from the municipal capital and in the vicinity of the Costa Grande region.

Violence in  Zihuatanejo:

Sources from the State Secretariat of Public Safety reported that minutes after 9:00 pm on Wednesday, a couple was shot and wounded in downtown Zihuatanejo. Witnesses claimed that the victims were inside the "3 Brothers" bar, where armed men arrived and shot them.

Afterwards, Red Cross paramedics arrived who treated the two wounded and transferred them to a hospital to receive medical attention, while state and municipal police searched for the aggressors, but did not find them.

 Three Veracruz victims found in Coyuquilla Norte, Petatlán:

The three men shot and found Tuesday in Coyuquilla Norte in Petatlán were from Veracruz and one was a teacher. Sources of the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo) reported that the victims were the 50-year-old Miguel teacher, his son Miguel and his son-in-law who did not specify his name.

The report indicates that the three came to Guerrero to pick up the body of one of their relatives who was kidnapped, but they did not return to Veracruz. The bodies of the victims were handed over to their relatives.

On Tuesday afternoon, the bodies of three men shot and killed inside a vehicle were found on the cruise that goes to the community of Coyuquilla Norte.