MEXICO CITY (TheBlaze/AP) — Officials say they have killed two people and arrested three others linked to the slaying of a Mexico mayor who had taken office only a day earlier. The state's governor said organized crime was behind the attack.
Gunmen killed Mayor Gisela Mota Saturday at her house in Temixco, one of several cities around Cuernavaca that have been struggling with kidnappings and extortions by organized crime gangs.
Image via Facebook/Gisela Mota
Police quickly located a car of presumed assailants who opened fire on officers, the Morelos state government said in a statement.
In a separate car, officials said they found two guns, one of them a semiautomatic, and ski masks.
Three people were detained — a 32-year-old woman, an 18-year-old and a minor. Morelos Attorney General Javier Perez Duron said the suspects have been tied to other crimes, but declined to provide more details.
On his Twitter account, Morelos Gov. Graco Ramirez attributed Mota's killing to organized crime, without citing a particular cartel or gang. He later announced state officials were establishing special security measures for all off Morelos' mayors.
Me informan de atentado contra la Pdta de Temixco Gisela Mota,joven y querida compañera.Este es un desafío de la delincuencia.No cederemos
— Graco Ramírez (@gracoramirez) January 2, 2016Ya detenidos los presuntos autores de atentado.Con la Legalidad y la firmeza necesaria. No vamos a regresar a lo de antes.No habrá impunidad
— Graco Ramírez (@gracoramirez) January 2, 2016He firmado y publicado acuerdo.Se declaran 3 días de luto oficial por los hechos de Temixco, se izará bandera a media asta #Morelos
— Graco Ramírez (@gracoramirez) January 3, 2016En #Morelos izamos bandera a media asta y se declaran 3 días de luto por los hechos acaecidos en #Temixco . #México pic.twitter.com/PzQNzBs424
— Graco Ramírez (@gracoramirez) January 3, 2016One organization representing mayors in the country, the Association of Local Authorities of Mexico, issued a statement saying nearly 100 mayors have been killed across Mexico over the past decade, "principally at the hands of organized crime."
Mota, who had been a federal congresswoman, had been sworn into office on New Year's Day.
Her center-left Democratic Revolution Party released a statement describing her as "a strong and brave woman who on taking office as mayor, declared that her fight against crime would be frontal and direct."
Forensic personnel stand by on January 2, 2016 outside the house of Gisela Mota, newly elected Mayor of Temixco, Morelos State, Mexico, murdered on Saturday at home by gunmen. (Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images)
Temixco, with about 100,000 people, is a suburb of Cuernavaca, a city famed among tourists for its colonial center, gardens and jacaranda-decked streets. "The city of eternal spring" was long a favorite weekend getaway for people from nearby Mexico City.
Drug and extortion gangs have plagued the state in recent years, driving away some tourists and residents. On its southwest border is the gang-plagued state of Guerrero, whose Pacific Coast resort of Acapulco has seen a sharp increase in murders.
According to NBC News, several Mexican mayors were murdered last year.
