The relative tranquility of the picturesque mountain town of Creel, a common starting place for people visiting Mexico’s famed Copper Canyon, was shattered Saturday, Aug. 16 when gunmen mowed down 14 people, including a one-year-old child who was killed in his father’s arms. Twelve others were injured and taken to local hospitals. The victims, mostly members of one family, were attending a family party at a dance hall.
The gunmen in three pickups, dressed in black and wearing ski masks, used high-power rifles in the massacre. The shooting continued for 10 minutes according to reports in The Heraldo de Chihuahua. Hundreds of tourists, hearing the gunfire, took refuge in nearby restaurants.
Creel, a town of about 5,000 in the Sierra Tarahumara mountain range, is the second-largest town (after San Juanito) in the municipality of Bocoyna, Chihuahua. It is located about 108 miles (175 kilometers) southwest of the capital city of Chihuahua. Tourists flock to the Copper Canyon area year round. It is common to see several tour buses in the town every day.
The newspaper reported, unofficially, that one of the victims was Freddy Aguirre, who owns a trucking firm. Two others were identified as Freddy Mendoza and Oscar Lozano. Several women and one other minor were also among the victims.
Officials are speculating that the killings were in response to the recent killing of narcotics trafficker Eliseo Ochoa.
Near Creel is Divisadero, perhaps the best-known overlook of the "Three Canyons" area of the Copper Canyon, as well as Basaseachic Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in Mexico. Creel was historically a logging town, although tourism has become the primary job source over the last 20 years. Catering to the tourists are many hotels, restaurants and a number of tours down into the canyons and throughout the surrounding area.
More than 800 people have been killed this year in Chihuahua, a state that also includes the violent city of Juarez.
Creel police officer Rosendo Chavez said that, until this attack, Creel had been spared from the violence raging through the state.