Dentist’s killing raises death toll to 22 in 9 days

He was shot to death at eastside medical office

Por: Omar Millán 3 Septiembre 2011 @ 9:48 am
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Authorities say disputes among street drug dealers are the major cause of deadly violence in Tijuana. SanDiegoRed News Service

TIJUANA – State authorities identified on Friday the dentist who was shot to death the previous day, pushing the city’s death toll to 22 homicides in nine days.

The victim was Rodolfo MartÃ*nez RodrÃ*guez, 45, who was shot in the head, face and upper back, the Baja California Attorney General’s office announced.

The killing occurred around 1:50 p.m. Thursday inside a medical office on Obrero Street in the Sánchez Taboada neighborhood.

A brown-colored bag containing live rounds of various calibers was found at the scene, as well as three clips, two of them spent, said the Attorney General’s Office, which did not immediately give a motive for the attack.

The dentist’s death is the latest in a series of killings in the last week. Through Sept. 1, there had been 348 killings in the city this year, 44 in August alone. Authorities estimate that 80 per cent of the murders are related to disputes among street drug dealers.

On Tuesday, the bodies of two men were found in two different sites, apparently shot to death.

One was 35 to 45 years old, found in Colonia Primer Ayuntamiento, on the east side. The other victim was identified as Vidal Soledad GarcÃ*a, 40 to 45 years, found in Colonia Montes OlÃ*mpicos, also in the east side, according to state authorities.

Despite the deaths in the last week, there have been 180 fewer murders this year to Sept. 1, compared to the same period last year, and gruesome murder scenes have virtually disappeared. This has led a wide range of public officials, from the governor on down to mayors, to announce that deadly violence has dropped significantly.

Victor Clark, a sociologist who has studied the cartels in Tijuana for more than two decades, worries that authorities and politicians are downplaying the importance of the violence among street drug dealers. He says they represent the bottom rung of the two cartels whose war between them led to the killing in Tijuana of more than 2,300 people in the last four years.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com

http://www.sandiegored.com/noticias/182 ... in-9-days/