One officer killed, three people wounded in Juárez mall

One officer killed, three people wounded in Juárez mall shootout

by Aileen B. Flores \ El Paso Times
Posted: 01/20/2011 09:04:57 PM MST

One police officer was killed and three people were wounded when a shootout broke out in a mall in Juárez, officials said.

The shooting took place at Galerias Tec at Pedro Rosales Street and Tecnologico Avenue while shoppers walked around the mall.

The officer as identified as Julio Cesar Toral Reyes, 29.

Officials said officers thwarted a robbery inside the mall when the shooting began.

Police said the three people wounded were the alleged robbers.

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UPDATE

One officer killed, three people wounded in Juárez mall shootout
by Daniel Borunda \ El Paso Times
Posted: 01/21/2011 12:00:00 AM MST

A police officer was killed and three people were wounded when a shootout erupted during a robbery attempt inside a Juárez shopping mall Thursday afternoon, officials said.

The shooting began while shoppers walked around, fueling a panic inside the Galerias Tec on Avenida Tecnologico and Pedro Rosales De Leon street in the north part of the city.

Police said the shooting started when several armed men attempted to rob a business inside the mall and were confronted by
Police officers enter the secured area of a Cd. Juarez mall, Galerias Tec, where officials said gunmen engaged in fire with a municipal police officer. The officer later died and three people were wounded. police. Some news reports said the robbers might have been attempting to hit an armored truck.

City officials identified the slain officer as Julio Cesar Toral Reyes, 29, who was killed in the confrontation. Toral joined the Juárez police force in April 2009.

Police said the three people wounded were the alleged robbers. The identities of the three were not immediately available.

The types of weapons used by the robbers was not immediately released.

Photos showed police with assault rifles storming into the mall, running past shops and scared employees.

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Blood was smeared on the tile floor as a man apparently took cover behind a booth in a hallway.

More than 25 police vehicles belonging to federal, state and city police urrounded and shut down the mall.

Brazen daytime robberies and shootings are not uncommon in Juárez since the start of a vicious drug war three years ago between the Juárez and Sinaloa drug cartels. Many of the attacks have taken place on busy streets, in crowded restaurants and bars and in other public places.

More than 3,100 people were murdered in Juárez last year. More than 100 people have been killed this year

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