The Associated Press
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico- At least two men with machine guns opened fire with more than 50 rounds Tuesday, killing a pair of police officers not far from city hall in this violence-plagued border community, authorities said.
Cmdr. Daniel Juarez and inspector Carlos Manuel Alvarez were riding in an unmarked car in an area between the municipal building and a crowded federal consumer protection office when they were ambushed, according to investigator Oscar Sepulveda.
Juarez was killed instantly, while Alvarez died about an hour later, after being rushed to the hospital.
The double killing brought to 11 the number of police officers killed since January in Nuevo Laredo, home to 330,000 and across the border from Laredo, Texas. Authorities say two of Mexico’s most-powerful drug gangs are waging a bloody battle for control of key cocaine and marijuana smuggling routes into the United States that has unleashed a grinding wave of violence here.
President Vicente Fox sent in the army and federal agents to restore order, but the violence has continued. Officials also ordered all members of the municipal police force off the streets for drug tests and background checks.
Juarez and Alvarez were returning from city hall, where members of the police force have gathered many days, awaiting reinstatement for patrol duties.
There were no arrests in the case and investigators had yet to determine a motive.
Tuesday’s was the second attack on authorities here in less than 48 hours. Sunday night saw Jose Noel Vives, a police agent for Tamaulipas state, which includes Nuevo Laredo, was shot 15 times and killed as he left his finance’s house in a crowded neighborhood in southern Nuevo Laredo.