8-Month-Old Baby Critically Injured, 5 Shot Dead In Suspected Drug Cartel Attack In Mexico

A drug gang might be involved in the recent shooting in Guanajuato, Mexico in which an eight-month-old baby was injured and five family members were shot dead.

Prosecutors said that the Saturday shooting in which a 14-year-old boy was one of the victims, happened in San Telmo in Apaseo El Grande, where drug gangs have been engaged in turf battles, reported ABC News.

After hearing sounds of multiple shots, neighbors informed cops about the shooting around 9 pm. The gunmen forced their way into the house after arriving in a vehicle, said witnesses. Bodies of the teen boy, three women and a man, presumed to be a family, were found with gunshot wounds, Daily Mail reported. The baby had a bullet wound to the arm, and was taken to a hospital for treatment. The infant was said to be in a critical condition.

At the victims' home, a handwritten sign with a message referring to a drug gang was found. Guanajuato had earlier being listed as one of Mexico's most peaceful states, but since 2017 the feud between the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel has affected its peaceful environment. It registered more than 4,500 murders last year.

Meanwhile on Saturday, at another home in the nearby city of Silao, cops found one 61-year-old woman and three men, aged between 21 and 38, shot dead. Along with the bodies, plastic bags containing meth were reportedly found at the house. The gunmen entered the house around 5 pm and opened fire, said witnesses.

The attackers escaped and later started a second assault against a group of bystanders who almost blocked them outside a house where a kid's birthday party was being hosted. Two people were shot in the assault and died at a hospital hours later.

Last month, Anjali Ryot, a California woman born in India, and a German woman named Jennifer Henzold were the two tourists who were killed in a shootout in Tulum, Mexico. According to prosecutors, the shooting reportedly happened between two groups that run drug sales in the area, and the tourists were apparently eating at a restaurant and may have been caught in the crossfire, reported CBS News.