By
The Associated Press
MEXICO CITY - Hooded gunmen in military garb, armed with submachine guns, shot and killed 12 villagers and wounded three in the western state of Sinaloa, authorities there said yesterday.
Police are investigating but said they had no clue as to the motive. The attackers escaped.
Three of the wounded were reported in serious condition at a hospital.
Norma Valverde, a spokeswoman for the Sinaloa government, told The Associated Press by telephone from Culiacan, the state capital, that the shooting occurred Wednesday night in Limoncito de Ayala.
The town, in the municipality of Cosala, is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Culiacan, a major center of cocaine trafficking. But investigators said there was no immediate indication the killings were related to the drug trade.
According to the state police report, witnesses said about 12 men walked into the village shortly after 7 p.m. They wore black boots, green military fatigues, had their faces covered with black ski masks and carried automatic weapons.
The men stole a small truck in the village and went from house to house, rounding up the victims and forcing them into the truck at gunpoint. All were men, one of them only 12 years old, and all were farmers or bricklayers.
One of the bricklayers jumped out of the truck and tried to run. The report said the gunmen shot him dead, moved the truck some blocks away and shot up the rest, then fled in a waiting pickup truck.
Police picked up more than five dozen spent 7.62mm cartridges at the scene, the report said.
The government news agency Notimex said the rest of the villagers fled to surrounding hills where they spent the night.
Notimex said the wounded were rushed to a hospital by a salesman who was driving by in a utility vehicle.
