President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed that the violence that took place this Sunday in Zapopan, Jalisco, was caused by the attempted kidnapping of a businessman dedicated to buying and selling cars, which led to a confrontation between escorts, elements of the Army and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
“There was a confrontation yesterday in Jalisco, widely publicized on social networks. It is very unfortunate that this is happening, according to the preliminary report, they wanted to kidnap a person and the guards, escorts, of the man confronted the group that wanted to kidnap him and a shootout began and the Army intervened because they notified the Army,” he reported.
This Sunday afternoon, videos of a shooting were broadcast on social networks in Plaza Antares, located on Avenida Patria and Puente Hierro in the municipality of Zapopan.
The Governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro, reported that elements of the National Defense Secretariat intervened in the confrontation, which left one person dead, two injured who will be made available to the Public Ministry and four injured civilians. In addition, he said, cars, weapons and tactical equipment were seized, some with organized crime insignia.
The shooting unleashed panic among visitors to the square, who sought shelter in the shops.
The president highlighted the performance of the elements of the Army, who thanks to a reform, can intervene in public security tasks.
“If the Army is not allowed to intervene in matters of public security, the Army could not intervene in that shooting. Before, when the Army was not allowed in security matters, they could be assaulting a person in front of a battalion and they did not participate” , he remembered.
In this regard, this Monday the president confirmed that the criminal group that intervened in the events was the CJNG.
“A person who lost his life, wounded from both groups, both from the escorts of the man who wanted to kidnap and from the criminal aggressors. Today surely this will be reported, yes this matter was very unfortunate … There is talk of an organization that acts there, the CJNG, ”he specified.
Jalisco is one of the six most violent states in the country. Along with Guanajuato, Baja California, Michoacán, the State of Mexico and Chihuahua concentrate 48.7% of the 20,722 intentional homicides that occurred between January and August of this 2022.
Zapopan, where the events occurred this Sunday, is one of the 50 most violent municipalities in Mexico. It is located in the 21st place; between July and August intentional homicides in that locality went from 140 to 141.
What happened in the shooting in Jalisco?
According to the first reports of witnesses, the event occurred around 6:00 p.m. when a group of armed men shot at the crew of a Mercedes Benz truck.
On Paseo de los Virreyes avenue there was a first confrontation between men and escorts who were traveling in the van. In their flight, the alleged criminals ran into elements of the Sedena and a second confrontation occurred.
One of the wounded was taken to a military hospital, and the other two to a private unit. While the deceased was inside a white vehicle with plates from Mexico City.
The Jalisco Security Secretariat reported through its Twitter account that a “security event” had been recorded in a commercial area on the avenue and noted that the authorities were already working in the area.
The state authorities detailed that after the inspection of the place, ballistic vests were found, as well as balaclavas and long weapons, the vests had logos referring to a criminal group.
With information from Dolores Luna.
