Posted on 11/23/2008 1:04:23 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
EL PASO -- The violence in Juarez hits home over the weekend as two Americans are gunned down.
Officials with the Juarez Municipal Police confirmed two Americans -- a man and a woman -- were gunned down this afternoon in the Colonia Cuatro Siglos near the intersection of Hermanos Escobar and Rafael Perez Serna.
They were identified as Roberto Martínez and Ruth Velasco. Police estimated Martinez's age as being between 55 and 60 years and that of Velasco as being in between 35 and 40 years.
Investigators determined Martinez was driving the KIA Amanti and Velasco was his passenger. More than 50 bullet casings were found near the vehicle.
El Diario de Juarez reports another woman and a child were also in the vehicle -- which had New Mexico plates -- during the incident but were not hurt.
Margaret Althoff-Olivas, a spokeswoman for Thomason Hospital, knew Martinez and VElasco and confirmed they both worked for Texas Tech Medical Center. Martinez was a military veteran, she added.
"These were two very caring and very competent healthcare professionals and our hearts absolutely ache. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families. They were part of our family. They will be greatly missed. This should not have happened. Their loss is absolutely devastating to so many. I hope whoever did this is caught," she said.
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Two others in the same car not hurt? Hmmm.
“
Two others in the same car not hurt? Hmmm.”
Hmmm indeed. Fire 50 rounds and leave witnesses? Huh? Drugs.
What part of “stay the hell out of Mexico” is so difficult to understand?
“Investigators determined Martinez was driving the KIA Amanti...”
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Well there’s your problem. Who in the world drives a Kia in Mexico?
Drive a Chevy, for peet sake. Then none of this would have happened.
“Well there’s your problem. Who in the world drives a Kia in Mexico?”
KIA? I think they were...
LOL A cold hearted chuckle crossed my lips also. They were KIA - in country - in Mexico. Not unexpected.
I have friends who are serious hunters, and go whitetail hunting in Mexico every winter. They tell me the word is spreading among guides and hunters— do NOT set foot across the border this year.
Texas Tech Medical Center is where we take the drug POSs that get carried to the bridge after they've been shot. Some thanks.
Needs more investigation, hit my fmail.
No one should cross the border with this violence. We should seal the border until the drug wars stop. Tell your friends to go north to Canada if they want to hunt or travel or better yet, visit Alaska or Hawaii and if you want to go exotic—visit Quebec.
In its first report on the shootings this weekend, the Times quoted an official at Thomason Hospital who knew the victims as saying the couple was obviously targeted.
More than 1,300 people have been killed since violence was unleashed in Juarez at the beginning of the year between warring drug cartels, and several of the victims have been identified as being from El Paso, the Times reported.
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