The armed attack that occurred in the community of Loma de Flores, in the municipality of Salamanca, Guanajuato, which left 11 people dead and at least six injured, is being investigated by the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Guanajuato and puts the entity with the highest number of victims of intentional homicides so far in 2026.
For her part, the governor of Guanajuato, Libya Dennise García Muñoz Ledo, condemned the attack, which she described as an “unacceptable” event that “deeply hurts Guanajuato families.” The local leader expressed her solidarity with the victims and assured that a joint operation with municipal authorities, the state prosecutor’s office and federal forces was immediately activated to treat the injured, secure the area and advance the investigation.
The Attorney General’s Office of the State of Guanajuato reported that, derived from the events recorded on the afternoon of Sunday, January 25, an investigation folder was initiated immediately, comprehensively and as a priority to clarify the armed attack. The preliminary balance is 11 people dead – 10 at the scene and one more while receiving medical attention -, in addition to six injured people, who remain hospitalized.
According to data from the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, Guanajuato heads the list of entities with the highest number of registered intentional homicides, between January 1 and 25, with 115 cases, followed by the State of Mexico, with 103, Chihuahua, with 91, Sinaloa with 85 and Baja California with 83.
The SSPC specified that the data in the daily report are preliminary and are subject to the legal determination of the Attorney General’s Offices and Prosecutor’s Offices of the 32 federal entities, which will define whether the facts constitute crimes.
Persistence of violence
The massive aggression registered in Salamanca, Guanajuato, reflects both the infiltration of organized crime in community spaces and the territorial dispute between criminal groups, that the security situation in the entity is far from being under control and sends a message of intimidation to the general population, security specialists told El Economista.
Jonathan de Vicente, director of Political Advocacy of the organization México Unidos Contra la Delincuencia (MUCD), stated that, beyond being a message directed at a specific actor, what happened seeks to inhibit the use of public spaces and reinforce the perception of insecurity among citizens.
“The message is for the population in general, that even public places, which are often difficult to recover precisely due to the situation of insecurity, clearly encourage more not to occupy them or even not to leave our homes,” he indicated.
He added that the attack also represents a direct message for state and federal authorities, particularly in a context where Guanajuato remains the entity with the highest number of homicides in the country.
Daira Arana, general director of the Global Thought center and security specialist, explained that, according to local media reports, this phenomenon could be explained as a territorial dispute, because “organized crime had reached these spaces that are recreational, which are often even used in social prevention policies for violence and crime.”
Regarding the persistence of homicidal violence in Guanajuato, despite official announcements of a reduction in crimes, Arana acknowledged that there is a decrease, but stated that the percentages are minimal, just one or two points, compared to a phenomenon that continues to seriously affect the population.
The expert identified three key factors that explain the continuity of violence: the high availability of firearms, their use in organized crime dynamics and daily violence, and a high level of impunity.
While Erubiel Tirado, an academic at the Universidad Iberoamericana, stressed that, although a decrease in intentional homicides is reported, there is an increase in other serious crimes that have not been clearly explained by the authorities.
“We have a decrease in homicides, but we also have an increase in disappearances and this has not been sufficiently clarified from the official perspective, with rational and methodological elements,” he noted.
He even warned of possible factious use of security resources. “There could be a factious use of the security resource, supporting those who are related to the ruling group at the federal level, and that would be serious if it is confirmed with elements,” he warned.
