Police still hunting for suspects
Mexican police are continuing the hunt for the killers of two men shot dead outside a casino in San Luis Río Colorado, a city in the northwestern state of Sonora on the US-Mexico border.
News broadcaster 13 On Your Side tweeted an independent video released by affiliated Arizona TV station KYMA of the resulting terror that gripped a restaurant near the unnamed casino in Plaza La Herradura on Monday:
According to a news report on KYMA yesterday, the Attorney General’s office of Sonora have identified the two deceased as Roberto Carlos, 62, and Francisco Armando, 33. The TV station said the two dead men had multiple injuries, with witnesses describing the shooting as coming from “inside a vehicle”.
Hiding behind tables, children crying out
KYMA quoted police as saying the shooting happened around 3pm on Monday outside the entrance of the casino, which is located in the Jalisco neighborhood.
man dining at a nearby restaurant filmed the ensuing panic
A man dining at a nearby restaurant filmed the ensuing panic inside the property, which included people barricading themselves behind tables and children crying out in fear. Police, who say the suspects fled the scene, continue to investigate.
If apprehended and convicted, the shooters face a jail term.
Located 26 miles from Yuma, Arizona, the Mexican casino in San Luis Río Colorado joins several US counterparts in outbreaks of violence in, or near, their vicinities.
Casino-vicinity violence a potential new US export?
The Monday killings outside the casino on Plaza La Herradura come hot on the heels of casino-vicinity violence trends in the US.
Last month, just under 200 miles from San Luis Río Colorado, Jonathan Lorenz, 37, reportedly shot and killed a 52-year-old man in a parking structure at Gila River Hotels & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona. The suspect, who allegedly shot at his ex-girlfriend and killed the man she was dating, faces first-degree murder and aggravated assault charges.
Over in Michigan, another man is facing first-degree murder charges for a similar incident, after he gunned down a man in the parking lot of MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit on March 21.
In Nevada this February, the parking garage of Nugget Casino in Sparks was the scene of a knifing that left two men in need of emergency medical treatment. One month prior, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers discovered a gunshot victim in the parking zone of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.