Chetumal, Q.R. — A man shot to death in Chetumal late Monday morning has been identified as an active police officer. Fermín “B” was killed when he was ambushed while riding his motorcycle through city streets.
The ambush happened shortly before noon while he was driving his motorcycle on the city’s busy Insurgentes Avenue. The ambush and subsequent shooting caused him to hit a Chetumal city taxi.
The Secretariat of Citizen Security (SSC) police officer was found laying face down near the front of the damaged cab. His motorcycle was located several meters away. More than a dozen shell casings were collected from the street around his body.
According to early information, he was shot in a targeted attack by hitmen from the Caborca cartel. It was motorists who saw the shooting that called for help.
The officer is reported to have been the former prison director at both the Cancun and the Chetumal prisons. There have been allegations that he was somehow involved with a criminal group through his prison positions, however, that has not been confirmed.
While there have been speculative reports on a motive for the attack, local authorities have not released any official information other than a confirmation that he was an active Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana (SSC) police officer.
Regarding the shooting, late Monday afternoon, the Fiscalía General del Estado FGE released a brief statement saying “the FGE reports that it has initiated an investigation to clarify the events of this morning in which a person lost his life due to a firearm injury.
“Specialized experts collected the necessary evidence to incorporate into the investigation file in order to find the person or persons responsible for this unfortunate event, which according to the first investigations, indicate that the deceased was an active element of the SSC.
“The State Attorney General’s Office, in coordination with security forces, maintains permanent surveillance to maintain peace and tranquility in this municipality.”
Last week, another Chetumal police officer was hospitalized after he was injured and his son killed. The pair were arriving home on a motorcycle Wednesday night when they were ambushed. The active officer received four bullet wounds. His 14 year old son was killed.
Authorities have not said if the two cases are possibly related.
