School Children Forced to Hide During Cartel Shooting in Empalme, Sonora

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Videos of children ducking under their school desks in the coastal city of Empalme in southwestern Sonora, as a cartel shooting happens outside, has drawn a lot of attention online. 

The Shooting 

At approximately 2:00 pm on October 20, 2022, the students and teachers on the grounds of an elementary school heard a sudden burst of gunfire just outside. The sound of the gunfire came from cartel hitmen, who stood on the street outside and fired into a white SUV, trying to kill a number of men inside the vehicle.

The school is named Mario Silva Cortés Elementary School* and is located at the corner of Sahuaral Street and 3RA. Avenue of the coastal city of Empalme, in the state of Sonora.

Ever since the arrest of Caborca Cartel leader Rafael Caro Quintero, Sinaloa Cartel groups associated with Los Chapitos have seemed to increase their attempts to contest Caborca Cartel controlled areas, such as Empalme, which is believed to be held by their subgroup La Plaza.

Cartel hitmen stood on the street outside and fired into a white SUV, trying to kill a number of men inside the vehicle. Teachers instructed their students to get down and take cover.

A man who was standing behind a corner on a street near the shooting posted the following video on social media.

NOTE: All of the videos in this story do not contain graphic content.

Video Source: Ruido en la Red

Other videos of the gunfire taken by citizens outside of the school can be seen below. 

Video Source: Niporwifi

In other videos students inside of classrooms are seen huddling on the floor.

Video Source: Michelle Rivera

The teacher in the video can be heard telling her students "Don't move please. Everyone down. Don't move please. Everyone down. Nothing is happening. Nothing is happening," Later in the video she tries to quiet the children.

Outside, a vehicle was being shot up by cartel hitmen who were targeting three men inside. One man died from the gunshot wounds and the two others survived, however they were heavily injured. Photos of the incident appear to show a white SUV with gunshot damage on a paved road near the school’s fence. 

Two journalists, Michelle Rivera and Mike Leyva, both posted the following photo, saying that it depicts a man who was shot during the attack on the SUV. They write that the man managed to run from the attackers by heading into the elementary school, where he was later found by authorities, bleeding profusely from multiple gunshot wounds.

Águeda Barojas on twitter alleges the other wounded man hid inside a nearby home. A few hours after the shooting, Sonora Public Safety released the following statement: 

A moment ago there was a direct attack against the crew of a vehicle, in which one was killed and two were injured, in Empalme. 

The security forces of the Navy, State and Municipal Police are on scene, guarding the area. Secretary of Security Maria Dolores del Rio has made contact with the principal of an elementary school located near the scene of the incident who confirms that the students are safe and fine. 

The corresponding investigations will begin. There is an active operation to find those responsible. 

Shortly after they made another statement, which read as follows: 

In addition to the information about the events in Empalme, we confirm that the students of Mario Silva Cortéz elementary school have already left classes and are with their families. 

Regarding the direct attack on three men that occurred near the facilities of this elementary school, the State Police confirms upon initial inspection they found that there are high-powered weapons inside the vehicle.

Regarding the information that circulated about gunshots in the Fatima neighborhood of Guaymas, the report is false. Various corporations responded to the call without finding any evidence. In an interview with neighbors, they stated they did not hear a shooting. 

Strangely, a video was shared by multiple people on Twitter who allege the footage shows the vehicle shot up by the attackers. However the video shows a very different vehicle then the one seen in photos. The vehicle in the video appears to be a silver SUV and it's located on a dirt road.

Video Source: Águeda Barojas

Now, it is always possible that the lighting in some of the photos has made the silver vehicle appear to be white, and it's always possible that the vehicle was towed to a secondary location, however the bullet impacts on the windshields do not match, so these must be two separate vehicles. The Sonora Public Security statement only made mention of one vehicle. Whether the video of the silver SUV is misreporting is unclear at this time. 

The Previous Controversy over a School Shooting Drill

The incident has brought even more attention to a previous incident in the nearby city of Guaymas when the state government criticized teachers at 24 de Febrero Elementary School who conducted a “mock shooting” drill. 

A video of the drill was posted to social media, as seen above. In the drill, the sound of gunshots were played over loudspeakers and children ducked behind walls in the school yard as a teacher was seen instructing them “Chests down, protect yourselves.” 

The state government’s Secretary of Education (SEC) released a statement condemning the recreation of a shooting and the social media video itself, saying “This type of improvisation [simulation of a shooting] confuses and violates the privacy of the minors on social media, something that we will not allow," said the authority.

"The Ministry of Public Education has prepared a School Safety Manual with instructions on how to protect our children from danger and violence, where we outline the appropriate response to a firearm confrontation on school grounds.”

 "The SEC will formally warn principals and teachers who choose to distract from the protocols approved at the federal and state level.”

"School campuses are safe environments and the educational authorities are in permanent contact with the police forces from the three levels of government, to attend to any type of circumstance that puts students and teachers at risk."

*Note: El Financiero alleges the school is not Mario Silva Cortés Elementary but instead Vicente Flores Murillo Elementary, however the official statement from Sonora Public Security seems to confirm it is Mario Silva Cortés Elementary. 

The Shooting Sources: Michelle Rivera, El Universal, El Financiero, El Imparcial, Telemundo51, El Mañana, AFN Tijuana, Radar Sonora Article 1, Article 2, Sonora Public Security Statement 1, Statement 2, Noticieros.Televisa, Diario de Mexico

Previous Controversy Sources: El Tiempo , Proceso