Mexican State police fend off attack by armed group at official's office

Apparent attempt to free suspects fails

By Jose Luis Jiménez
2:00 a.m. December 18, 2008

TIJUANA — A group of heavily armed men opened fire and stormed the Baja California Attorney General's Office in Tijuana early yesterday with the apparent intent of freeing two recently captured colleagues, authorities said.

State police agents turned out the lights and returned fire, forcing the group to retreat, Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez said at a news conference. Three agents were injured in the brief firefight and were expected to survive.

The group may have been trying to free two men, ages 22 and 20, being held at the office. The men confessed to being responsible for 16 slayings, including the fatal shooting of the teenage nephew of a Mexican army general battling drug traffickers in Baja California.

The two men were taken into custody Sunday evening after a shootout on city streets between gunmen and state police officers, Moreno said. One officer was killed.

The Attorney General's Office is housed in several buildings that occupy a city block. The arrested men were interrogated there and confessed to participating in the violence that has left hundreds dead in Tijuana since September, Moreno said. The confession included the slaying of seven people at a produce warehouse near the Otay Mesa border crossing Nov. 3.

“These two individuals are extremely dangerous,â€