6 bystanders killed in crossfire of armed clashes near Acapulco
Clashes between two armed groups left six civilians dead near Mexico's crime-plagued beachside city of Acapulco, authorities said Tuesday.
The violence erupted on Monday night in a town called Kilometro 30 located on a highway to Mexico City, the Guerrero state prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The victims were five men and an elderly woman who were caught in the crossfire, said municipal commissioner Adan Casarrubias. Three people were injured.
Soldiers and police found weapons in an armored vehicle in the town, where several cars were set ablaze.
Armed men in at least three vehicles were involved in the confrontation, which terrified residents, Casarrubias said.
"Even if it's with pans, sticks, or whatever, we're going to fight for our town," he said.
Officials said a long-barreled weapon, magazines, cartridges, seven vehicles (including an armored truck), tire-puncturing weapons and five improvised explosive devices were seized during the investigation.
Once-thriving beach resort now blighted by violence
In its heyday in the 1950s and 60s, Acapulco was a playground of the rich and famous. Today the city once known as "the pearl of the Pacific" is engulfed by violence linked to drug cartels.
On Thursday, the administrator of a Facebook news page was gunned down in Acapulco.
Lst December, a judge was shot dead in his car outside an Acapulco courthouse.
In May 2024, 10 bodies were found scattered around the city. A month before that, the head of traffic police was shot to death when assailants opened fire on him on a street relatively far away from the resort's beaches.
In February 2024, two men were found dead on a popular beach in Acapulco, and prosecutors said the men's bodies bore "signs of torture around the neck." That same month, three people were shot dead on beaches in Acapulco, one by gunmen who arrived -- and escaped -- aboard a boat.
Acapulco is part of the state of Guerrero, one of the worst affected by drug trafficking in the country. It is among six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to completely avoid, citing crime and violence.
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