2 Texas women wounded in Juárez
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 06/05/2008 10:11:04 PM MDT


Two Texas women were shot and wounded on a Juárez street as a wave of violence continued in the region on Thursday.

A Chihuahua state investigator also became the fourth police officer killed in the past three days, and a man was fatally shot in the parking lot of Las Misiones mall as the homicide count in Juárez surpassed 410 this year.

Two other state investigators were killed Wednesday, and a Juárez police officer was slain Tuesday night.

The two women wounded in a shooting Wednesday were from Presidio, officials said. They were traveling in a gray Nissan Titan when they came under fire by unknown people on Avenida del Charro. Elizabeth Lares Valenzuela, 33, and her mother, Bertha Valenzuela Ramos, 61, were hospitalized in serious condition, state police said.

It was not disclosed whether the women were U.S. citizens.

Jorge Alberto Gonzalez, 37, was killed late Thursday morning when about 20 rounds were fired through the windshield and driver's side door of his on-duty pickup while he was on the road to Ojinaga, state police said. Ojinaga is across the border from Presidio.

Gonzalez, who lived in Juárez, was a member of the State Investigation Agency assigned to Ojinaga, state police said.

Shortly after noon on Thursday, a man leaving a movie theater with members of his family was gunned down in the parking lot of Las Misiones mall.

Ramon Portillo Villalobos, who sold cars in the community of Caceta, died from multiple gunshot wounds, state police said.

In another homicide, an unidentified man was shot to death Wednesday night while in a white Volkswagen on Gomez Morin boulevard. Investigators found 66 bullet casings at the crime scene.

Juárez has been hit with more than 410 homicides this year believed to be linked to a war between drug trafficking groups.

Many of the shootings have occurred on busy streets and during the daytime, despite patrols by the military and federal police.

Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said Wednesday that hundreds more soldiers were headed to patrol the city, but a date for the troops' arrival was unknown.

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