Sinaloa State Policeman Angel Rivera was Reportedly Mistakenly Killed by Mexican Military During Culiacanazo 2.0

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

His name is Ángel Eduardo Rivera Mondaca and he was killed by gunfire from a Sedena helicopter.

"He's pulling at us, he's pulling at us!" shouts over the radio warning of an attack. It's a friendly fire. “The idiot is shooting at us, C4.” The voice is that of the Undersecretary of Security, Carlos Alberto Hernández Leyva, who led a group of State Police in La Campana, Jesús María, Sinaloa. 

A second voice alerted on the radio the same thing and then again that of Hernández Leyva. “They are shooting at us here in La Campana, C4”. In the headquarters of the Command, Control, Communications, Computing, and Intelligence Center (C4I), they are told that they are trying to communicate with the headquarters.

But it was too late. The young State Police agent died in the attack.

The operation by the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) in coordination with the National Guard (GN) and the Attorney General's Office was the capture of Ovidio "El Raton" Guzman Lopez of Los Chapitos/CDS in Jesús María, Sinaloa. The Secretary of State Public Security confirmed the death of agent Ángel Eduardo Rivera Mondaca, "who lost his life in the line of duty."

Angel became a policeman just two years ago.

Rivera Mondaca was part of the elite group that escorted Undersecretary Hernández Leyva. He had graduated from the Academy of the then-State Institute of Criminal Sciences of the State of Sinaloa (INECIPE) with honors just two years ago. 

"This agent was wounded and killed by an error [in firing from a] Sedena helicopter," reveals a source.

"The military are suspects in the policeman's death and no one will investigate, they only say collateral damage," explains a police officer, who requested anonymity.

Another source from the institution points out that the only people injured and killed in the State Police were shot by that helicopter. "If it hadn't been for that mistake, the guys [army] comes out clean," he says.

Two agents were transferred to Hospital Ángeles to be treated, but Rivera Mondaca's injuries were too severe to be saved, and just before 2:00PM on Friday, January 6, the Security Secretary, Cristóbal Castañeda Camarillo, announced the news of his death.

"We deeply regret the death of the member of the State Preventive Police, Ángel Eduardo Rivera Mondaca, who lost his life in the line of duty, as well as the rest of the state police officers who were injured and fallen elements of the federal forces," he wrote.

But what the Secretary omitted was who caused his death.

At the start of his weekly press conference, Rubén Rocha Moya expressed his condolences to the family of Ángel Eduardo Rivera Mondaca. He asserted that he will be very attentive to the children and the family, and emphasized that they will receive compensation.

"First of all, I want to express my condolences to the family of police officer Ángel Rivera Mondaca from the city of Los Mochis, a state police officer killed in Thursday's operation," he stressed.

Source Riodoce, La Noticierias