For the second time in 3 years, the police chief of the Mexican border town of San Luis Rio Colorado has come under attack.
In 2012, the city’s police chief was shot and killed outside his home by a group of unidentified gunman in what’s believed to be a cartel hit. Details are sketchy on the latest attack.
The San Luis Rio Colorado police chief is in critical but stable condition after an attack Monday night.
According to Spanish newspaper Diario Noticias, 48-year old Francisco Vasquez Bustamante was shot six times in his vehicle at a city intersection.
Vasquez was first taken to a Mexican hospital before his family requested transfer to a U.S. facility.
San Luis Rio Colorado Municipal police spokesman Jesus Gutierrez said Vasquez was taken to a hospital in Phoenix.
Vasquez received gunshot wounds to the head, stomach and legs.
The attack took place on the last day of office for San Luis Rio Colorado’s mayor Leonardo Guillen.
The outgoing ceremony scheduled Tuesday afternoon for Guillen was canceled due to the attack.
Few details are available on the specifics of the attack or the motive behind it.
San Luis Rio Colorado is 30 miles south of Yuma, Arizona. It’s considered a major border crossing area for local agriculture workers.
It has generally been spared the cartel violence experienced in other border cities