An infant and a toddler were among six members of the same family killed in a central Mexican state plagued by cartel-related violence, a local official said Monday.
Authorities say armed assailants stormed a home in the town of Leon, Guanajuato, on Sunday evening and opened fire on the family.
“Unfortunately, two children and four women have died,” Governor Diego Sinhue Rodriguez told reporters.
Two men survived because they saw the attackers coming and hid on the roof, he said.
MARIO ARMAS/AFP via Getty Images
Guanajuato is one of Mexico’s most violent states due to wars between rival cartels involved in drug trafficking, fuel theft and other crimes. In Guanajuato, with a population of just over 6 million, more police officers — about 60 — were shot in 2023 than in the entire United States.
In April there was a mayoral candidate shot dead in the street in Guanajuato just as she began campaigning. In December, 11 people were killed and another ten were injured in an attack on a pre-Christmas party in Guanajuato. A few days before, the bodies of five university students were found in a vehicle on a dirt road in the state.
For years the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has waged a bloody battle with the Jalisco Cartel for control of Guanajuato.
Mexico has recorded more than 450,000 murders since 2006, when the government deployed the military to combat drug trafficking, most of which were blamed on criminal gangs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
