Mexican authorities are investigating the death of a girl with U.S. citizenship who is suspected of having been struck by police gunfire during an operation in the state of Tamaulipas, the prosecutor’s office announced yesterday, Friday.
The child’s death, in Matamoros, near the U.S. border, occurred on October 29, while security forces had been deployed to disperse roadblocks set up by armed individuals.
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Police are trying to determine whether the 7-year-old victim was in fact struck by gunfire from police officers aboard a helicopter.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Tamaulipas Attorney General Jesus Govea, told the Milenio network, clarifying that the police officers under investigation in the case remain free for the time being.
According to Mr. Govea, police officers said they opened fire in response to an “attack” they came under at a roadblock.
The victim’s mother, however, contends that a helicopter followed the vehicle in which she, her husband, and their five children were traveling.
She added that her husband got out of the vehicle to show the police officers that they were civilians and that there were children in the vehicle when they came under fire. A second child, aged 13, was also injured.
In Mexico, a country ravaged by a wave of violence attributed to drug cartels, many civilians have lost their lives in crossfire between criminals and law enforcement, or because they failed to stop at a roadblock.
Source: Protothema.gr
