Mexico: Gunmen kill 9 at home in Monterrey suburb

FILE: Mexico flag (Pixabay photo)

MONTERREY, Mexico — Gunmen burst into a home in northern Mexico and killed nine people who had gathered to watch a soccer game on TV, authorities said Sunday.

An official with the prosecutor’s office in Nuevo Leon state said at least 20 people were at the home Saturday night in San Nicolas de los Garza, a northern suburb of Monterrey. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns.

Seven men died at the scene and two died later at different hospitals. The victims were listed as between 26 and 58 years old.

Prosecutors believe the motive was a dispute over local drug dealing.

In the evening, Nuevo Leon Prosecutor Bernardo Gonzalez Garza announced that a 32-year-old suspect armed with a handgun had been detained in the case. Gonzalez did not give further details on the arrest but said neighbours reported that the home was a point of sale for drugs. He added that there had been another killing there last year.

Also Saturday night, an 11-year-old boy was shot dead in Santa Catarina, a western suburb of Monterrey. Hours later in Cadereyta, to the southeast, a group of young people came under fire and one was killed.

The incidents were believed to be unrelated.

In the southern Pacific Coast resort city of Acapulco, a shooting at a bar early Sunday killed a Chilean citizen, seriously wounded a woman and left four other people with lesser injuries.

Guerrero state security spokesman Roberto Alvarez said the incident began as a fight around 4:30 a.m. The motive was not immediately clear, but a person produced a handgun and began firing, he said.

Mexican media reported the shooting took place at a bar called Baby Lobster, which is on the beach along Acapulco’s touristy waterfront boulevard.

Acapulco and surrounding Guerrero state have seen violent crime soar in recent years amid drug gang turf wars. Last year the state posted a homicide rate of 64.2 per 100,000 residents.