Terrified young children, teachers and parents were forced to hide under desks in their school as drug cartel gunmen engaged in a fierce gun battle outside the school in the Mexican state of Chiapas, the latest battle to rage as rival drug cartels continue to fight for control of Mexico's southern border.
The shootout happened outside the Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez School in Benemerito de las Americas, Chiapas, Mexico. Processor Video shared by a local journalist showed the moment a large group of gunmen jumped from a truck and began shooting at rivals in the street.
The video then cuts to a scene in the school office, where staff and parents are gathered around walls and desks, while sounds of a large gunfight can be heard outside.
In the short video, a woman tells the girl, “Don't cry… come here,” and the man is also recorded picking up the girl and sitting her behind a metal desk.
The shootout was just one in a series this week in Chiapas, where smaller criminal gangs such as Los Machetes, which are affiliated with the Sinaloa or Jalisco New Generation Cartels, are locked in a fierce turf war for control of drug smuggling routes into Mexico, where the jungles of Chiapas are home to many clandestine airstrips that drug traffickers use to transport cocaine.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has called for a restoration of peace and an end to impunity, but military and police authorities have had little effect in stopping the fighting.
Local journalists and human rights groups have reported cases of drug cartels forcibly recruiting, particularly young men, and residents of several small communities in Chiapas have been forced to flee their homes due to the escalating violence.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist at Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas' Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. Twitter and FacebookContact details: email address.
Brandon Darby is Managing Director and Editor in Chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas' Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and other senior Breitbart executives. Twitter and FacebookContact details: email address.
