Gang related violence leaves 9 dead in Michoacan

9 killed, including 3 children, at video game arcade in Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico.

The attackers were searching for specific targets, but then opened fire indiscriminately on customers, officials say.

A woman holding pictures of missing persons, during a protest against violence in Mexico City, Mexico [File: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters]
A woman holding pictures of missing persons, during a protest against violence in Mexico City, Mexico [File: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters]

Four gunmen shot dead nine people at a video game arcade in western Mexico, and among the dead were three children aged 12, 13 and 14.

Prosecutors in the state of Michoacan said late on Monday the attack left two other people wounded.

The attackers were apparently searching for specific targets, but then opened fire indiscriminately on customers. Two of the victims were aged 17 and 18.

The attack occurred on Monday Feb. 3, in the city of Uruapan, where violence has reached shocking proportions.

Uruapan, Michoacán, México (Photo: Fox News)

Over the weekend, investigators also found the decomposed bodies of 11 people in clandestine graves in Uruapan.

Prosecutors said they were investigating a missing person case when they received a tip about the clandestine burial pits.

And on Friday in Uruapan, gunmen attacked a municipal police patrol, killing one officer and wounding two others.

That attack may have been retaliation for the Friday arrest of a Viagras gang leader who has been implicated in 19 murders.

Turf wars between the Jalisco and Viagras drug cartels, as well as predecessors, have bloodied the city for several years.

In August, Jalisco cartel gunmen left nine bodies hanging from an overpass, with seven more corpses hacked up and dumped by the road nearby. Just down the road were three more bodies, for a total of 19. They hung a banner from the overpass threatening the Viagras.

Uruapan is where many believe Mexico’s 2006-2012 drug war began in September 2006, when armed, masked men burst into a bar there and tossed five severed heads onto the dance floor, along with written threats to rivals.

The Mazatlan Post with information from BBC.com