Mexico: 6 Killed in Armed Attack on High School

Gunmen have killed 5 high school students and an adult woman in a street shooting in central Mexico, according to local authorities on Tuesday.

According to the police, the gunmen opened fire on a group of students on Monday night, killing 3 males and two females between 16 and 18, as well as a 65-year-old woman who was in the same area.

“Unfortunately we can say that a few hours ago in the Barron community 6 people lost their lives in an armed attack,” Cesar Prieto, the mayor of the city in Guanajuato state, said.

The mass shooting happened just two weeks after 8 women and 3 men were killed in an apparent gangland revenge attack on two bars and a hotel in Celaya, another city in Guanajuato.

Located in Mexico’s prosperous industrial center and home to a refinery and a major pipeline, Guanajuato has become one of the most violent states in Mexico due to a dispute between two gangs, the Santa Rose de Lima and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

The two gangs fight for control of trafficking routes for drugs and stolen fuel.

Since December 2006, when the government launched a controversial military anti-drug operation, Mexico has recorded more than 340,000 murders, according to official figures.