Posted on 10/22/2009 12:09:07 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
REYNOSA — A clash between the Mexican army and about 60 assailants turned some this city’s streets into a battle zone for about an hour early Tuesday morning.
The group fired shots at soldiers patrolling the Reynosa-Matamoros highway near Motel Dalí about 1:20 a.m., the Mexican Defense Ministry said in a news release issued Wednesday evening. The attackers rode inside about 20 newer-model trucks as they fired guns and hurled grenades at the military convoy.
No injuries were reported by neighbors and passersby, though one soldier suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. It remains unknown whether any of the criminals were injured during the conflict.
Two trucks were damaged after apparently barreling into obstacles, and five vehicles within the convoy were riddled with gunshot holes. No arrests were made in connection with the attack, which left about 2,000 cartridge casings and 40 spent grenades littering the area.
The criminals left behind a 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck bearing the Nuevo Leon license plate number RB-74168 on the front bumper and PY-46-467 on the rear bumper.
Along with the truck, authorities also seized an AR-15 rifle, 240 rounds of ammunition and 26 ammunition clips.
Minutes before the street battle, a state police convoy had circulated in the same area and also confronted a group of armed aggressors, according to the Defense Ministry statement.
Mexican media said the shootout left six colonias without electricity after several power cables were destroyed amid the chaos. Newspaper El Mañana reported Wednesday — before the Defense Ministry issued its statement — that several people in addition to the injured soldier suffered gunshot wounds and that seven people were arrested. The newspaper also said at least 5,000 cartridge casings were found at the crime scene.
Prior to this week’s incident, the lastest Reynosa street battle to make headlines was on Oct. 6, when authorities arrested seven men near the intersection of Acapulco and Paraguay boulevards in the colonia Ladrillera Mexicana.
There, army personnel approached a group of armed men traveling in a white SUV who attempted to flee once they spotted the convoy. As the driver sped away, the SUV barreled into another vehicle, and the SUV’s occupants attempted to take the vehicle’s passengers by force. Several unknown people began to fire shots at the SUV’s occupants, apparently attempting to free the besieged group.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón deployed thousands of troops to Tamaulipas' northern border in early January 2008 after two shootouts between cartel members and federal and local authorities in Reynosa and Rio Bravo. Two police officers and three suspected cartel members were killed in those battles.
Since Calderón took office in December 2006, his offensive against the cartels that smuggle drugs into the United States has been met with unprecedented brutality, leaving more than 13,500 people dead, according to The Associated Press.
Much of the headline-grabbing border violence has been in cities like Juárez, across the border from El Paso, and Tijuana, across the border from the San Diego metro area. In early September, however, the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College closed for a weekend after bullets from a shootout in Mexico struck a building and a car on the campus.
Yep. Those nasty drug thugs are getting their guns, grenades and Chevrolets north of the border from U.S. gun stores.
Stop the War PING
I didn’t know you could get grenades at the Gun Shows in AZ. I better check the vendors more closely.
No injuries were reported by neighbors and passersby, though one soldier suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. It remains unknown whether any of the criminals were injured during the conflict.
Two trucks were damaged after apparently barreling into obstacles, and five vehicles within the convoy were riddled with gunshot holes. No arrests were made in connection with the attack, which left about 2,000 cartridge casings and 40 spent grenades littering the area.
They fired 2000 rounds and threw dozens of grenades and wounded one soldier? Either they suck much worse than the Iraqi army, or the press there is lying.
Are you still keeping that ping list? If so, add me to it please. Thanks
You forgot the sarcasm tag..
"Two trucks were damaged after apparently barreling into obstacles, and five vehicles within the convoy were riddled with gunshot holes. No arrests were made in connection with the attack, which left about 2,000 cartridge casings and 40 spent grenades littering the area."
All that and there was only one guy wounded that they know about? If it wasn’t such a serious matter I would say it looks more like a wedding.......
How’s that Drug War workin’ for ya?
If I ever decide to move to Mexico, I’ll get back to you on that.
Yeah that amazed me. 60 people in the street fighting the Army for more than an hour ,and no one got hurt.
Sounds like an episode of the A-Team.
Mark my words, at least once during this century the US is going to have to invade and occupy Mexico.
Spent grenades???
Two trucks were damaged after apparently barreling into obstacles, and five vehicles within the convoy were riddled with gunshot holes. No arrests were made in connection with the attack, which left about 2,000 cartridge casings and 40 spent grenades littering the area.
Did the mexican government hire the A Team?
That made me laugh.
Incidentally, the new A-Team movie will be out in Summer of 2010. Liam Neeson plays Hannibal and Bradley Cooper plays Templeton Peck.
LOL! And they know this how? What moron wrote this?
From the country that instituted the Mexican standoff comes now the Mexican Shootout. 5000 rounds fired and 40 grenades and one guy wounded in the leg. Pathetic.
Coming to a U.S. city near you all too soon.
Just open them borders.
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