Eleven shot, mutilated, found dead around Mexico

Eleven were reported shot or found dead around Mexico on 5 October in incidents likely related to organized crime, the review Proceso reported. In the north-central state of Zacatecas, four gunmen were shot dead by soldiers after they began shooting at a military patrol from a convoy of cars. Another man was shot dead in Valle Hermoso in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas after he fired on a military patrol; a policeman who had been reported missing on 1 October in Escuinapa in the north-western state of Sinaloa was found shot dead and wrapped in a sheet in Acaponeta, in the west-coast state of Nayarit. He was the officer escorting the director of Public Security in Escuinapa. Other victims included two 14 and a 16-year-old boys shot dead in the central city of San Luis Potosí. Another "young man" of unspecified age was found decapitated that day in San Luis Potosí. In the northern city of Reynosa, police found and confiscated 13 armour-plated buses or lorries in a private lot, as well as arms and ammunition presumably belonging to criminal gangs, Proceso reported on 5 October. Guards at the site began shooting when police arrived; police shot dead one of them and arrested eight. The vehicles, some reportedly stolen, were being converted into armoured cars gangs use in gun battles, Proceso reported.