CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - Armed men stormed a party in this violent Mexican border city over the weekend, killing 13 high school and college students in what witnesses said was an attack prompted by false information.
About two dozen teens and young adults were hospitalized after Saturday’s assault in Ciudad Juarez, a drug-cartel-plagued city that is one of the deadliest in the world.
Grieving witnesses and family members said yesterday that they thought the victims, mostly residents of the housing complex where the attack occurred, had no ties to drug traffickers.
The young adults had gathered to watch a boxing match, said Martha Lujan, a resident of the complex, when two trucks pulled up loaded with armed men who opened fire.
Ten people were killed at the scene, and another three died at local hospitals, Chihuahua State Attorney Patricia Gonzales said. The bodies of the victims, whose ages ranged from 15 to 20, lay scattered around the house where the attack occurred.
A witness said he was outside the building when the gunfire broke out. Hector, who only gave his first name because he feared retaliation, said the party was an innocuous gathering of friends who must have been incorrectly targeted.
Ciudad Juarez is home to several drug cartel bosses who are battling for turf as thousands of troops and federal police try to stop them.
More than 2,250 people were killed there last year alone.
