Knowing He'd Be Murdered By Hitmen, Officer Asked Friends to Donate to Animals Instead of Buying Funeral Flowers, Sonora

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

A municipal police officer was shot to death while he was in a park in Emplame, Sonora. A message he left on his social media shows that he may have seen his death coming. 

The Murder in the Park

Monday, August 8, was police officer Manuel Alejandro Ibarra Vizcarra’s day off from work and he chose to spend it riding his bike through the downtown parks and central square of the coastal city of Empalme - the same city where he worked. 

The 37 year old officer took a brief video of a park’s scenery and monuments. He then posted it to social media. The video can be seen below.

Contains no graphic content. Video Source: Aquí y Ahora Noticias

Shortly after the posting, at approximately 7:00 pm, a number of cartel hitmen rolled up beside Ibarra in their vehicle and shot him multiple times. He crumpled down onto the sidewalk, still entangled in his bike and bled to death shortly after the shots ceased. 

The officer was gunned down while he was riding through the centrally located Tinaco plaza, in a busy downtown section of the city. Many civilians were milling about nearby and the shooting caused them to panic and duck to find cover.

By 7:30 pm, a civilian reported the shooting to the emergency phone line and officers were sent to cordon off the area. Forensic experts processed the evidence and the state Attorney General’s Office (FGE) has opened an investigation into his homicide.

The Events Prior and The Context

On July 21, 2022, Manuel Alejandro Ibarra Vizcarra made a public request on his social media. In a Facebook post, he told his friends and family that if he should die, he’d like them to not spend money on flowers for his funeral but instead spend that money on dog food and donate the kibble to animal shelters. 

Officer Ibarra Vizcarra was known as an animal lover. Social media photos posted by others show that he saved an injured dog, carrying him in his arms, during a police operation. 

Ibarra Vizcarra was also a frequent supporter of his local animal shelter, often donating food to it, however he was very discreet about it and he never posted about his donations on social media. It was instead the animal shelter itself which took to social media to highlight the kind donations that Ibarra Vizcarra and his girlfriend often made.

Just five days before Ibarra was killed, his police department in Empalme got a new police commissioner, named Luis Ángel Flores Estrada.

Commissioner Flores Estrada was previously a Navy Captain. His appointment to the head of police follows a tradition within the southern Sonora region wherein Navy leaders are brought into positions of law enforcement as part of a larger attempt to clean up these departments from narco corruption. 

As an example of this movement, see Navy Frigate Captain Cándido Tarango Velázquez who became police commissioner of Cajeme in November 2020. Or Navy commander Andrés Humberto Cano Ahuir who was installed as the police commissioner of Guaymas in August 2019. Both of these men were later surrounded by scandal and accused of working for Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Salazars.

Empalme is believed to be mainly controlled by the Caborca Cartel subgroup “La Plaza”, which is allegedly led by Francisco Javier Espinoza Camacho, aliases “El Picipi” and “El Fino”.

Sources: Official FGE Statements, Opinion Sonora Article 1, Article 2, Radar Sonora, Milenio, El Universal, El Heraldo de México, El Sol de Hermosillo