Mexico Shooting: Gunmen Kill 13 in One of Worst Slayings This Year

By Staff, Agencies

At least 13 people have reportedly been killed and more injured after multiple gunmen opened fire at a party hall in southeast Mexico.

A 1-year-old baby is among those killed, as well as five women and seven men, according to BNO News. Five further victims were taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The attack happened just after 9pm local time (3am BST) in Minatitlán, a city in Veracruz state.

The city is around 500km southeast of Mexico City.

A motive for the mass shooting was not immediately known.

Witnesses told local media that the gunmen were possibly looking for someone.

The state’s Secretary of Public Security Hugo Gutiérrez Maldonado said: “Federal and state forces have launched a strong search and capture operation for those responsible for the events that happened in Minatitlán.”

Lopez Obrador took office in December vowing to reduce violence in Mexico, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since the end of 2006 in brutal turf wars between drug cartels and their clashes with security forces.

After reaching record levels in 2018, murder rates have stayed high, surpassing previous-year levels in the first three months of the new government, official government data shows.

The president was due to visit Veracruz on Sunday, according to an official schedule published before the attack took place.