At least 19 people died in a shooting recorded on Sunday night in Zinapécuaro, Michoacán, the police said on Monday. Attorney General of the State of Michoacán (FGE) in a statement.
The Prosecutor’s Office was informed at 10:30 p.m. of an “aggression perpetrated against those attending a palenque that was being held in the town of Las Tinajas, and upon arrival at the scene found 19 lifeless bodies (16 men and three women), which They had gunshot wounds,” according to the statement.
Several people were injured and taken to hospitals, added the same source.
The FGE opened an investigation to clarify what happened.
Mexico is immersed in a spiral of violence that leaves some 340,000 dead –mostly attributed to actions of organized crime– since 2006 when a military anti-drug offensive was deployed.
The state of Michoacán and neighboring Guanajuato are two of the most violent in Mexico, due to the war between rival gangs involved in drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
In 2021, Michoacán registered 2,732 murders, equivalent to just over 8% of the 33,315 intentional homicides that occurred in all of Mexico.
On March 10, the mayor of the municipality of Aguililla in Michoacán, César Valencia, was shot to death when he was in a city council van.