Mexico City:
An American couple was shot dead in the violence-hit western Mexican state of Michoacán, state prosecutors said Thursday, just after the country’s president held a meeting with security officials aimed at addressing the wave of violence.
The couple, identified as 50-year-old Gloria A. and 53-year-old Rafael C., were traveling in a pickup in the municipality of Angamacutiro when they were shot Wednesday night, the attorney general’s office in Michoacán said in a statement.
The woman died at the scene, while the man died from his wounds a short time later in hospital, the statement said. It is unclear why the married couple was targeted and the investigation is ongoing.
A spokesman said the woman, who had acquired US citizenship, and the man, who was born in the US to Mexican parents, had family and a home in Angamacutiro.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office in October, has promised to replicate nationally the success she had as mayor of Mexico City in reducing the sprawling capital’s murder rate.
But his first two months in office saw outbreaks of cartel violence in several hot spots.
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