Kidnapping and Shootout in Jalisco Shopping Center Attracts National Headlines

 "MX" for Borderland Beat; TY "Sol Prendido"

Gunmen forcibly take a man into the red vehicle. The video recordings of this shootout and kidnapping are found below.

A kidnapping attempt turned deadly in Zapopan, Jalisco, on Monday. Just before 1:00 p.m., between ten to fifteen gunmen entered a shopping center to kidnap one of the diners. A shootout quickly ensued when the man's bodyguards opened fire on the newcomers. Surveillance cameras and mobile phone recordings from eye-witnesses were shared on social media. The shootout quickly became a trending event nationwide.

The attack left three injured, one dead, and one missing: two employees from Los Otates restaurant and one Zapopan police officer were injured. At least one gunman was killed after succumbing to his wounds in a nearby hospital. And the intended target of the kidnapping was kidnapped and his whereabouts are unknown.

In one of the video recording below, witnesses captured the moment when the intended target was taken by the assailants and forced into a red Chevrolet Spark car. The car was then discovered by authorities a few blocks from the scene, but no traces of the man were found.

In the video, a diner captures the shooting from across the restaurant in question. The gunmen can be seen taking their intended target.

"A person was taken out of the restaurant and forced into a car (...) We have not identified him; we have graphics taken from videos but we do not have the identity of the missing person. No formal complaint has been filed", investigators said.

 

The bodyguards of the kidnapped man simply got up (they had thrown themselves to the ground during the attack) and left the shopping center before authorities arrived.

Since there were no formal complaints issued for the kidnapping, investigators attributed the events to a "settling of scores" within a criminal group, or a confrontation between gangsters.

In this video, Reforma newspaper shares varies recordings, including one from inside the restaurant

A body was then found in Tonala, Jalisco, hours later, and rumors spread on social media that the kidnapped man was the owner of the bar where the former Jalisco governor Aristoteles Sandoval was killed last December. However, authorities said there was no evidence for this claim. Until now, there are no elements linking this event with the murder probe.

Few details of the investigation are known as this time. Authorities have not said which criminal groups were involved in the shootout, but it is likely that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was present because they are the main criminal group in Zapopan and the rest of the Guadalajara metropolitan area. 

Sources: La Jornada; El Informador; El Universal