Juárez shooting stops traffic at Bridge of the Americas
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Posted: 10/26/2010 05:00:06 PM MDT


A shooting in Juárez led to cross-border traffic being stopped for 20 minutes at the Bridge of the Americas this afternoon, said a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

About 1:30 p.m., CBP was alerted by Mexican customs officials to a shooting in Juárez near the bridge. Mexican customs stopped U.S. bound traffic and asked CBP to stop traffic going into Mexico, CBP spokesman Roger Maier said.

"We did beef up our presence at the port and took appropriate actions as part of our operation procedure due to the incident," Maier said.

Traffic - with the exception of U.S. bound semi-truck traffic, which uses an alternate route - was stopped for 20 minutes before traffic was allowed to flow again, officials said.

Three people died in the shooting in the Chamizal area near the foot of the bridge in Juárez, Chihuahua state police said. Names had not been released.

There were no reports of shots or injuries on the U.S. side. The Bridge of the Americas is one of the major connectors between Juárez and El Paso.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_16438601