A fierce shootout between Gulf Cartel gunmen and police near the border city of Matamoros killed one officer and one gunman, plus several injuries on Sunday. The lacking response from state and federal forces to the violence has led to discontent among local patrol officers in the region.
The shootout took place in the town of Control Ramirez, west of Matamoros. Initial information revealed that a squad of special forces cops from the state police, now called the State Guard, were responding to a call about gunmen driving around the town.
When police responded to the scene in regular vehicles without armor plating, the gunmen began firing in an ambush-style attack. The officers were initially overpowered.
Eventually, investigators with the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office and military forces arrived as backup.
The poor planning of the initial response to the shootout has led to discontent within police — they single out leadership of the special operations group for not supporting their teams.
During the shootout, officer Manuel Martinez sustained injuries and had to be rushed to a hospital where he died hours later. Several others sustained injuries and received treatment at a hospital in Matamoros. Authorities are actively trying to conceal details of the case, including the total number of injured officers.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A Espinoza”, and “J.C. Sanchez” from Tamaulipas.