Ongoing investigations of an attack on an illegal cockfighting pit in Mexico say the gunmen hid in a chip van before opening fire.
The incident took place in Las Tinajas, in Michoacán state and left 20 causalities, 17 men and 3 women died in the attack. It is reported that the owner of the ranch and his son were among those killed in the attack. Four people were also injured.
Investigators say the shooters entered the ranch in the chip van while another vehicle blocked the entrance.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed gang rivalry for the shooting.
“It was a massacre of one group by another,” he said at a news conference.
The Attorney-General’s office in a statement said:
The gunmen left behind the chip van, which had been reported stolen last week, and fled in faster cars,
Among other things uncovered at the scene were more than 100 casings were found, gang logos in one of the cars parked at the scene.
Investigators said that they found , which led them to believe that among those attending the cockfight were members of a criminal group who might have been targeted by other rival gangs.
The area around Las Tinajas is disputed by a number of gangs which engage in the smuggling of stolen petrol and the illegal tapping of petrol pipes owned by the state-run oil company.