A California couple was shot and killed while on vacation in Mexico, authorities have confirmed.
The couple, identified by the Michoacan State Attorney General’s Office only as Gloria A., 50, and Rafael C., 53, were shot to death in western Michoacan state just before midnight Wednesday night.
The couple were traveling in a truck in Angamacutiro municipality when they were shot. The woman died at the scene, Reuters reported, while the man died in hospital a short time later.
It is not clear why the couple were targeted.
Federal prosecutors told Reuters that the woman, who obtained American citizenship, and the man, who was born in the US to Mexican parents, had a family and a home in Angamacutiro.
Magdalena Guzmán, press officer for the Michoacán prosecutor’s office, told The New York Times that the couple arrived in Mexico late last month to spend the holidays with family.
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According to the source, the authorities found out about the attack after the police found their car full of bullets on Angamacutiro road.
The prosecutor’s office said the couple’s license plates were registered without a number in the Lázaro Cárdenas area. Detectives were collecting ballistic evidence from the scene for analysis.
The killing is seen as a step back from the Mexican government’s vow to crack down on organized crime in several states.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office in October, has promised to replicate nationally the success she had as mayor of Mexico City in reducing the murder rate in the capital.
But his first two months in office have been marked by outbreaks of cartel violence in several hot spots.
The Canadian government is advising visitors to avoid non-essential travel to several states in Mexico – including Michoacan – due to high levels of violence and organized crime.
– In files from Reuters
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