May 24, 2005

Gunmen Shoot to Death Head of Mexicali Prison
By Sergio Haro
Associated Press Writer
This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB1C7UT49E.html

MEXICALI, Mexico (AP) - The director of a state prison in this border city was shot and killed Tuesday by assailants who ambushed him outside his home, police said.
Eduardo Villalobos was shot at least five times by an unknown number of gunmen who waited in two separate cars outside his home in Mexicali, across from Calexico, California. The assailants then escaped in a vehicle leaving behind the other car at the crime scene, said Perla Ibarra, an assistant state attorney in Baja California, where Mexicali is located.

Ibarra said Villalobos was taken to a hospital were he died shortly after arriving. Authorities have made no arrests but a pickup truck believed to be the getaway vehicle has been found, Ibarra said.

Villalobos had served as assistant state attorney and was head of the state's police unit against organized crime but was dismissed from that post in 2003 after one of his agents killed a man at a bar.

He was appointed director of the CERESO prison in December.

Ibarra said investigators were trying to determine if the attack on Villalobos was related to his job as prison director or prior work in law enforcement.

The attack on Villalobos comes three days after the police chief of the Pacific coast city of Rosarito, 12 miles south of the U.S. border, was riddled with bullets as he left his house.

Carlos Bowser was surprised by two gunmen, who mowed down the former state police officer with pistol and rifle fire, police said.

AP-ES-05-24-05 2037EDT