Valle de Empalme, Sonora: School Classes and Fiestas Suspended after New Wave of Violence

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: ElImparcial y proyectopuente

Armed group sows terror among the inhabitants in the valley of Guaymas and Empalme; there are two dead;  Convoy of hitmen kills two with exclusive military weapons:

The execution of two men, the illegal deprivation of the liberty of another person, setting  fire to two houses and damages to three vehicles, the members of the Security Bureau for the Construction of Peace in Sonora are investigating. 

Through a press release, the Attorney General's Office in the State reported that the armed command that sowed terror among the inhabitants of rural areas, operated with weapons exclusively used by the Army to assassinate a man in La Atravezada and another in the Ejido Francisco Márquez. 

In the valley of Empalme, they killed Mario Antonio, 27 years old, set fire to a house, while in Francisco Márquez, they executed Francisco Javier "N", 51 years old, deprived Luis Alfonso of freedom " N, ” 43, set a house on fire and damaged three cars with firearms.

According to the first reports, the criminals arrived at a house in the town Moreles La Atravezada , in the municipality of Empalme , where they executed a young man named Antonio "N".

After these events, they went to the Ejido Francisco Márquez , in Guaymas, where they burned three homes, killed another person, wounded another person and deprived a woman of freedom.

"We ran to hide under the bed": Neighbor

A person who lives near the place where an armed command set two homes on fire and left two dead, narrated the moments of terror he lived with his family.

A loud noise alerted a family of the Francisco Márquez ejido who had just risen to start their activities at home, work and school, and although at first they thought it was stones falling on a roof, they soon  realized they were hearing shots and ran to hide.

“My wife was preparing the lunch, the children and I had just got up when we heard that noise that sounds like stones on a roof, but in seconds we realized that they were bullets and we ran to hide under the bed and inside a wardrobe.

The man, who failed to give his name for fear of reprisals, said he took his son's hand, who is barely 10 years of age and got under the bed, while his wife and a young minor were locked in a closet and they threw clothes on top of themselves.

Residents feel anguish and fear:

"What is said in the press is little compared to what really happens," says a resident of the Ejido Francisco Márquez, where criminals caused terror early yesterday while burning houses and killing at least two.

For several minutes, he said, the family remained hidden and once they heard that tranquility had  returned to the street, where a few meters away they murdered their neighbor Francisco Javier “N.”, 51, they went out to see what was happening .

"The truth is that when we knew that they were bullets, we calculated more or less in what house it could be, because we who is bad, and with knowledge that we had to protect ourselves in a place that we considered safe," he said.

Fear, he said, took over the whole family and in the middle of the morning, the four of them cried, while hugging each other tightly.

They look for hit men; perform operations by land and air, Municipal, State, Military and Marine police "comb" the entire Guaymas Valley:

After the violence caused by the group of hitmen, who murdered two men and burned houses, the police corporations based in Guaymas and Empalme, as well as elements of the secretariats of the Navy, National Defense and National Guard, concentrated in the valleys of both municipalities to perform operations by land and air.

The Attorney General's Office in the State, through a statement, informed that the members of the Security Bureau for the Construction of Peace, carry out search tasks to find those responsible for the violent events in the rural area.

He pointed out that interviews were carried out with several eyewitnesses, collected evidence in the places where criminal acts were recorded and undertook an operation in the area to find the whereabouts of a person deprived of liberty.

In the attacked areas, he mentioned, 7.62x39 and .223 caliber percussive caps were found, exclusively used by the Army.

The head of the Municipal Civil Protection Unit in Empalme, Javier Ibarra González, recommended canceling normal activities in school institutions to avoid endangering the physical integrity of students.

Classes in the basic and higher level schools of the Morelos La Atravezada village were suspended after the violent events that sowed terror among the inhabitants. 

The head of the Municipal Civil Protection Unit in Empalme, Javier Ibarra González, recommended canceling normal activities in school institutions to avoid exposing children, while police and military authorities return calm in the rural area.

"I have no power to suspend classes but we do issue a recommendation for us to keep sheltered families, as this situation is ongoing, there is no point in exposing the children," he said. 

In Guaymas, no recommendation has been issued, however there are parents who will not send their children to school. 

Due to violence, they cancel traditional festivals in Guaymas Valley:

The inhabitants of the valleys of Guaymas and Empalme were informed that the dance, the horse races and the parade were canceled so as not to expose the people to the ongoing wave of violence. 

The traditional festivals scheduled this weekend at La Misa were canceled due to the violent events recorded during the early hours of Thursday in the valleys of Guaymas and Empalme.

The organizing committee of the traditional festivals of the town, informed the inhabitants of the valleys of Guaymas and Empalme, that the dance, horse races and the parade and carnaval rides were canceled by the City Council so as not to expose them to  acts of violence.

They pointed out that the San Francisco cavalcade and the village watch are events that were done as planned, but the dances that were planned from October 3 to 6 and the horse races for Sunday 6 were canceled.