6 dead after Reynosa shootout

REYNOSA — At least six people were killed amid a barrage of grenade blasts and gunfire in a residential neighborhood on the city’s southwest fringe early Monday morning, officials said.

The bloody confrontation between Mexican army soldiers and an unidentified criminal group broke out about midnight Sunday, local officials confirmed.

Three army soldiers and three civilians involved in the attack died during the shootout. Four soldiers suffered injuries, as well.

Authorities detained about 10 people after the attack. A van loaded with marijuana was also reportedly seized by authorities.

Officials said the attack involved a well-armed group that sprayed gunfire and detonated grenades along Avenida Pemex Oriente for about 40 minutes.

“It was everything,” the official said in Spanish about the attack. “It was too much.”

The first reports of the shootout came via Twitter, the micro-blogging Web site that allows users to post updates via computer and text message. Initial posts came shortly after midnight Sunday.

“It won’t stop and there are lots of grenades,” one man wrote in Spanish about midnight Sunday. “God save us.”

Twitter gained notoriety last year after Iranian citizens posted updates about riots following their nation’s presidential election.

Other posts suggest the death toll in Reynosa may have been much higher as a result of the gunfire, with one user posting that there were “bodies everywhere.”

Some users’ Twitter posts said that more than 25 grenades exploded during the confrontation.

The gunfire took place along Avenida Pemex Oriente in the Puerta del Sol colonia, a neighborhood of small identical homes located south of Libramiento Monterrey, the primary east-west highway that cuts across Reynosa’s south side. Nearby houses and businesses reportedly were damaged by the explosions and gunfire.

More than 15,000 people have been killed since President Felipe Calderón vowed to battle Mexico’s drug cartels in 2006.

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.