Four men in vehicle gunned down on Tijuana street

By Jose Luis Jimenez
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

3:31 p.m. October 9, 2008

TIJUANA – Four men were shot to death Thursday afternoon in the middle of a busy neighborhood as the wave of violence continued in the city, according to a municipal police official.
Late Wednesday night, three men – two believed to be innocent bystanders – were shot to death in front of a taco stand, bringing to seven the number of men killed in the city in just over 12 hours, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous because of his department's rules about talking to the media.

The violence has evolved from bodies being dumped late at night to shootings in the middle of the day on public streets.
The most recent shooting occurred about 12:30 p.m. Thursday when four men in a Mercury Villager were shot to death by gunmen in another vehicle in a neighborhood known as November 20th, according to police. The gunmen got away and police were investigating.

The attack near the taco stand occurred about 11 p.m. Wednesday in the city's La Florida neighborhood. Police found 34 shell casings nearby, including 20 commonly used in assault rifles. Police believe one of the two customers at the taco stand was targeted by the gunmen, who also killed the cook.

Police are investigating the deaths as part of the ongoing battle between rival drug gangs blamed for the dramatic spike in violence in the border city. The latest killings are similar to other recent slayings linked to the groups in that rifles or automatic weapons are used and the attacks are drive-by shootings.

Baja California's governor announced this week that federal police and Mexican soldiers are coming to the state to reinforce local efforts to stop the violence.

Including the most recent slayings, at least 77 killings have been attributed to drug violence in Tijuana since late September.

Jose Jimenez: (619) 293-1865; jose.jimenez@uniontrib.com

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