5 dead, 1 wounded, 3 arrested in Juarez shootout between police and drug gang
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- As many as five people were killed and a police officer injured in a fierce gun battle between authorities and drug gang members in southern Juárez, according to TV Azteca Noticias and other Mexican media outlets which posted online videos of the shootout.
It happened off Casas Grandes Highway in a desert area between 3 and 4 p.m. on Friday. Mexican media reports indicated that policemen were attacked by an organized crime group holed up in a nearby house.
The dead were all said to be civilians, while the injured Juarez officer had a gunshot wound to the leg. The Chihuahua State Attorney General's Office said three arrests had been made.
The sounds of the raging gunfire exchange could be heard on videos posted to social media by Mexican news outlets. One account indicated more than a thousand shots were heard in a ten-minute period.
Norte Digital reported that the intense gunfire occurred as police continue trying to deal with rampant violence tied to drug cartels, with over 200 murders already in Juarez so far this year.
Balacera en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. Policías fueron atacados desde un domicilio; el saldo es de cinco civiles muertos y un agente estatal lesionado.
— Azteca Noticias (@AztecaNoticias) February 22, 2020
Reporte de @reynaldolarar pic.twitter.com/q9kkb6AbrB
