Memorial Memories
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A chilling video showed members of the drug cartel lining up several people against a wall during a funeral – shooting them dead, cleaning up the scene and leaving a bag full of brains.
The gruesome attack came Sunday ahead of a memorial service for the mother of a suspected hitman who worked for the Jalisco cartel, which has waged bloody turf wars against rival gangs in Michoacan.
Footage, taken by a resident of the city of San Jose de Gracia, shows gunfire and smoke blanketing the scene of the carnage.
On Monday, prosecutors said they couldn’t say how many victims died because the attackers cleaned up the crime scene, washed the sidewalk and removed the bodies.
At the scene, investigators found only a bag full of brains and bullet casings.
The Michoacan state prosecutor said the gang members went to the funeral to search for the killer, who officers identified only by his first name, Alejandro.
Prosecutor Adrián López Solís said the killer apparently died at the scene.
The attack happened just blocks from City Hall, where three police officers were on duty, he said, adding that the police neither went to the scene nor raised the alarm because “they didn’t have enough strength” to intervene.
There have been several attacks on funerals in Mexico when cartel gunmen attempted to crush members of rival gangs during services.
Mayor Jorge Luis Anguiano, whose parish includes San Jose de Gracia, said a large convoy of vehicles was seen arriving from neighboring Jalisco state before Sunday’s attack, but local police didn’t have the firepower to intervene.
“Given the number of suspected criminals who were there and given the rules of engagement, we had to pull out,” Anguiano said. “We don’t have the firepower to deal with these types of situations.”
“In situations like this, local governments are vulnerable,” he added
With mail wires
