Three dead after gunmen storm police station in central Mexico

Three dead after gunmen storm police station in central Mexico

2011-04-29 02:48:01 GMT+7 (ICT)

HIDALGO, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- Gunmen on Thursday stormed a police station in central Mexico, killing three people, two of them police officers, El Universal newspaper reported.

At about 9:30 a.m. local time a group or armed men entered a police station in Tula city, Hidalgo State. The gunmen arrived in three luxury vehicles and opened fire on the personnel inside the federal building.

After that, the suspected members of the Zetas drug cartel fled in different directions. Hidalgo's Security Secretary Damian Canales initiated an operation along the state's highways in order to intercept them.

Rescue teams arrived to the police station but three people had already died. Two police officers, members of the Police's Investigative Division, were shot dead as well as a female employee.

Preliminary reports indicate that about 200 bullets were used by the fourteen gunmen who perpetrated the attack. One vehicle was found abandoned in neighboring Zempoala municipality.

The vehicle was later revealed to be stolen and traces of blood were discovered inside it. Federal Police said that another group of suspects fled to the Arco Norte highway and even knocked down the access barrier gates.

Authorities believe that the shooting was in retaliation to the arrest 28 individuals in Carmen de Tula village two weeks ago. The detainees are suspected members of the deadly Zetas drug cartel.

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