4 Killed in attack on wake in Mexico

Guanajuato, Mexico, Jul 28 (EFE).- Four people were killed and three others wounded when intruders opened fire inside a home in the central Mexican town of Jaral del Progreso during a wake for a murder victim, authorities said Thursday.

The attack took place after midnight Wednesday as people were mourning a young man named Jorge Luis, a.k.a. “El Pajaro” (The Bird), who was slain earlier this week at his residence in Jaral del Progreso, Guanajuato.

Members of the National Guard and army soldiers assisted investigators from the Guanajuato state Attorney General’s Office in securing the crime scene.

Guanajuato, sixth among Mexico’s 32 federal jurisdictions in population, has led the nation in homicides since 2018 and saw 1,566 murders in the first half of this year.

Authorities in the state say that 90 percent of killings stem from territorial struggles among rival criminal groups for control of drug trafficking and the trade in fuel stolen from pipelines.

Nationwide, murders fell to 33,315 last year after topping 34,000 in 2019 and 2020, the two deadliest years on record in Mexico.

In February, an attack on a funeral in the western state of Michoacan left a dozen people dead. EFE ppc/dr