At least nine US citizens, three women and four children, have been killed in a violent attack by suspected drug cartel gunmen in northern Mexico.
The attack alarmed a nation already reeling from record violence this year.
Members of the LeBarón family, American citizens who have lived in a fundamentalist Mormon community in the border region for decades, were traveling in three separate vehicles when the gunmen attacked, several family members said.
They were ambushed by gunmen in Bavispe. A burnt-out SUV was later found by the side of the road with the remains of the victims.
Family members said that those inside the SUV were Rhonita Miller LeBaron and her four children: six-month-old twins, an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old.
Two other women and their 10 children were shot at as they tried to flee.
They described a terrifying scene in which one child was gunned down while running away, while others were trapped inside a burning car.
Two of the children killed were less than a year old, the family members said. Kenny LeBarón, a cousin of the women driving the vehicles, said. He feared the death toll could grow higher.
“When you know there are babies tied in a car seat that are burning because of some twisted evil that’s in this world,” Mr. LeBarón said, “it’s just hard to cope with that.”
The Chihuahua state attorney said the number of dead remained “confusing” with family members speaking of nine people killed and local media reporting the death toll could be as high as 12.
