Two Teens, 4-Year-Old Killed in Juárez Cartel Attack

A cartel attack in Juárez resulted in the murder of four victims consisting of two teens, a child, and their 25-year-old uncle Sunday morning.

A group of cartel gunmen stormed a ranch in colonia Riberas del Bravo and fired more than 100 rounds from at least five firearms, killing four, according to local media reports. The four victims were later identified as Lindsay, 14; Sherlyn, 13; Arleth Sánchez Gordillo, 4; and Rafael Gordillo González, 25. An unidentified friend of the family was kidnapped, according to the state prosecutor (FGE). Local media reported that all victims died from gunshot wounds.

Breitbart Texas law enforcement sources say the suspected gunmen are members of “Los Mexicles,” an armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel. It is believed that at least five took part in the attack. Investigators located a total of 126 rifle and pistol shell casings from at least five different weapons. No motive was released by the state attorney general’s office.

Juárez is undergoing a raging cartel turf war which led to 1,247 homicides in 2018, according to official statistics. Current year 2019 has notched 966 murders in the El Paso, Texas, sister city.

Officially Accounted Homicides Per Year (Source: Chihuahua State Attorney General)

2014: 436

2015: 311

2016: 771

2017: 772

2018: 1,247

2019: 966 (as of August 23)

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com

Editor’s note: this article was updated to clarify the person kidnapped in the case. Initial reports indicated that the father was taken–though officials later clarified the kidnapping victim to be a friend of the family.