Four Shot Dead In Broad Daylight Near Daycare & Kindergarten, Irapuato, Guanajuato

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat

Three men and a woman were shot dead on Azucena street in the Santa Maria neighborhood; the attack occurred just 50 meters from a daycare center and kindergarten, which caused panic among parents who were on their way to pick up their children.

The Shooting 

The newspaper AM reports that at approximately 9:00 am on the morning of October 11, 2021, a fight occurred in a vacant lot on Azucena Street in the Santa María neighborhood in the city of Irapuato, near a children's daycare. 

Police were called to the scene after a report of the fight was received and the police found two groups of people arguing. The police managed to control the situation and convinced the groups to stop fighting. Both groups reportedly left the area in separate directions. The officers then left the area as well, having diffused the conflict. 

Then at approximately 10:40 a.m. on October 11, 2021, men pulled up on a motorcycle at the same vacant lot on Azucena Street. AM newspaper reports there were two men who arrived at the location whereas the newspaper El Sol de Irapuato reports that three men arrived. Informativo Agora writes that the group actually arrived in a vehicle, not a motorcycle. According to Proceso, the Municipal Security Secretariat says the department's initial reports suggest that it was two men that arrived in the area and they were on a black motorcycle. 

The men reportedly approached four people who were sitting and casually drinking alcoholic beverages in the vacant lot. Reports differ on why this group of four people were in the area. Proceso Magazine reports that the four people drinking “lived together in a vacant lot located in the Santa María neighborhood”, suggesting they were homeless. 

Whereas publication Informativo Agora writes that “groups of young people meet every day to drink and do drugs,” suggesting it was more of a local hangout spot. 

Regardless, when the men approached the four people drinking in the lot, they pulled out firearms and shot all four at point blank range. Some witnesses allege over 30 gunshots were heard during the attack. Unofficially, it was said that a fifth person was also sitting in the lot but they managed to run and escape the shooting. 

After the attack, the gunmen returned to the motorcycle and the attackers drove off towards Gómez Morín Boulevard. They managed to escape the area and there are currently no reports of anyone arrested in connection to the event. 

The shooting caused panic among the residents of Irapuato because parents were dropping off and picking up their children from Garabatos Daycare Center, just 50 meters (54 yards) away and just a few meters away from the Leona Vicario Kindergarten. Shortly after the shooting occurred emergency phone line received a report from an alarmed witness. Police and paramedics were called to the scene. 

The police found the four victims, three men and one woman, all no longer had vital signs by the time they arrived on scene. The area surrounding the lot was cordoned off from the public and over 12 patrol cars arrived at the location.

The cordoning off of the area only further distressed the parents of children standing nearby as mothers were unable to pick up their children, eventually police arranged for the children to be picked up on another street. A sweep of the area was done by officers in order to locate the perpetrators but it yielded no results. 

So far three of the victims have been identified. They are: Juan Manuel and Alfonso, who are brothers and Pedro Zaragoza. The woman who was killed is still unidentified. Next to the bodies was a dog, which reportedly belonged to one of the deceased. Despite the gunshots and the commotion, the dog never left his owner's side until the Forensic Medical Service took his dead body away.

Sources: AM, Proceso, Milenio, El Sol de Irapuato, Noventa Grados, Noticias NPI, Debate, Informativo Agora