TIJUANA, Mexico ? Men with automatic weapons ambushed the chief of investigative police for Baja California state while he was leaving for work
Wednesday and killed him, riddling his body with more than 50 bullets, authorities said.
Ministerial Police Chief Jose de Jesus Bedoya managed to fire one shot in retaliation as he died and fell to the ground outside his home in this
violent city of about a million across the border from San Diego, said Maria Teresa Valades, deputy attorney general for Baja California, which
includes Tijuana.
It was unclear whether his final bullet wounded any of his attackers.
At a news conference, Valades said six assailants who knew the 50-year-old Bedoya usually left for police headquarters early in the morning, were
waiting for him in two vehicles when he left his home around 7:30 a.m.
Within minutes of the slaying, hundreds of local police officers began scouring the streets searching for the killers. State authorities called in
helicopters as part of the manhunt.
Not far from where the shooting occurred, police found an abandoned Ford Ranger pickup with California license plates they believed was one of the
vehicles the gunmen used. A man was detained for questioning nearby, but authorities had yet to link him to the shooting, Valades said.
The well-planned nature of the attack, as well as the impressive fire power used by the assailants almost certainly signify the killing was drug
related. Further investigation will be needed to determine why Bedoya was targeted, Valades said.
"We are using all the power of every police force we have to find those responsible for this crime," she said. "We will not rest until we've made the
necessary arrests."
Bedoya joined the ministerial police, which handles criminal investigations, in 1984 and had been the force's commander for about a year at the time
of his death.
In July, Humberto Armenta Vizcarra, a commander for and 13-year veteran of the state's ministerial police, was shot and killed outside his home in the
Baja California capital of Mexicali, across the border from Calexico, Calif. Anonymous - 1-13-2005 at 12:35 AM
TIJUANA ? Mexican authorities were investigating the brutal killing of a high-ranking state police commander who was ambushed as he left his home
Wednesday morning.
More than 50 bullets, most of them from an assault rifle, were fired at Jose de Jesus Bedolla Garibaldi as he prepared to go to work about 8 a.m.
Bedolla managed to fire back, but he died where he was attacked.
At least two people were believed to have been involved in the assault. No one has been arrested, but all of Tijuana's law enforcement agencies were
involved in a massive operation to find the killers.
State police officials wouldn't speculate on the reason for the attack, but the killing was similar to the kinds of violent acts typically pegged to
organized crime groups in the city.
At a news conference Wednesday, authorities emphasized that Bedolla was a long-standing member of the police agency who was known for his honesty and
professionalism.
"This is very tragic for the situation and for the type of person he was," said Maria Teresa Valdez, who oversees the state attorney general's Tijuana
office. "He was a person who was in good standing, and I want to emphasize that."
Bedolla, 49, had been a state agent since 1984, and a city police officer before then. He was married, with four children. He oversaw the state police
agency's investigations out of the Tijuana office. surfer jim - 1-14-2005 at 09:55 PM
number one suspect?....drug dealers?...NO...other police?....si senor...Mike Humfreville - 1-15-2005 at 02:43 AM
There's a difference???JESSE - 1-15-2005 at 02:47 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Mike Humfreville
There's a difference???
