8 dead in a mass shooting in a cartel-plagued town in central Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Eight people are dead and two others are wounded after gunmen pulled up to a roadside stand in north-central Mexico and opened fire on customers and bystanders, authorities reported Sunday.

Prosecutors in the cartel-ravaged state of Guanajuato said the shooting occurred late Saturday in the town of Apaseo el Grande.

Eight men died just outside the stand, which was selling a traditional type of milk-based fudge. Another man and a woman were wounded in the attack, but there was no immediate report on their condition.

Local media reported that a paramedic was one of those killed in the shooting. The state ambulance and paramedic agency said an emergency medical technician had died late Saturday, but did not confirm whether he was one of those killed in the attack.

Video posted on social media showed men’s bodies with apparent head wounds scattered among motorcycles parked outside the stand.

The town of Apaseo el Grande, and its sister community of Apaseo el Alto, have been hit by mass shooting attacks in recent years which experts say are related to warring drug cartels. There have been a series of mass shootings at bars, clubs and businesses in the area since at least 2018.

Guanajuato, an industrial and farming hub, has for years had the highest number of homicides of any of Mexico’s 32 states. The Jalisco cartel and the local Santa Rosa de Lima gang have been locked in a years-long turf battle in the state.