SUNDOG - 11-10-2006 at 08:37 AM
6 wounded in ambush in Tijuana
By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 10, 2006
TIJUANA – An ambush on a busy thoroughfare near downtown left four municipal police officers, a taxi driver and a flower vendor injured yesterday.
The attack occurred shortly after noon, when assailants inside at least two vehicles opened fire on two police pickups traveling on Fundadores
Boulevard, near Agua Caliente Park. The injured officers included the top commander of a Tijuana police substation and two bodyguards, said Jaime
Niebla, a high-ranking investigator with the Baja California Attorney General's Office.
Investigators found an AK-47 in the middle of the street and spent casings from automatic weapons. Nearby, they found two abandoned vans they believe
were used in the assault.
Niebla said the most seriously injured officer was Victor Acosta, one of the bodyguards. The other injured policemen were identified as Héctor Gaxiola
Gálvez, commander of the Sánchez Taboada substation; Efrén Preciado, an assistant chief; and Julio César García Nevarez, a bodyguard.
Niebla said the police apparently were able to get out of their vehicles to repel the assailants. It was unclear what the motive was for the attack.
The flower vendor was slightly wounded in an arm, while the taxi driver was injured when one of the cab's windows shattered, police said.
Tijuana has suffered from a rash of commando-style attacks and killings in recent months, following the arrest by U.S. authorities in August of
alleged drug kingpin Francisco Javier Arellano Félix. Some of the assaults have specifically targeted police.
In September, 44 people were killed. That number dipped to 27 last month, but since then the homicide rate has picked up. During the first eight days
of this month, the city has had 11 homicides, according to statistics from the state Attorney General's Office.
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Sandra Dibble: (619) 293-1716; sandra.dibble@uniontrib.com