By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat
A twelve-year-old boy was killed after by gunfire near a playground last night in San Francisco del Rincón, Guanajuato. 390 children have been killed by firearms in Mexico so far this year, an average of 1.65 per day.
The attack occurred around 9:30 p.m. near the San Pancho park in Colonia Jardines de San Miguel of San Francisco del Rincón. Police responded to 911 calls and found a twelve-year-old boy dead and two other youths seriously injured. According to witnesses, the shooters were in a Black Chevy Avalanche with tinted windows. The vehicle was found abandoned nearby but the shooters were not found.
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| Photos from AM Noticias. |
Just three days before, a ten-year-old girl was killed and a 3-year old was injured by stray gunfire from another attack in the same region.
Between the start of the year until July of this year, 1,398 people under the age of 17 were killed in Mexico, an average of 6.7 daily, according to data collected by the Network for the Children in Mexico (REDIM). Just as with figures for all homicides, Guanajuato is one of the most dangerous states. Of these, 390 were killed by firearm, and are therefore most likely to be linked to organized crime.
This figure is similar to Causa en Común’s annual report on atrocities in Mexico, which found 359 children were “assassinated” in Mexico last year. Their mid year report for 2023 showed that between the start of the year until June, 134 assassinations occurred. Assassinations are considered to be an aggravated form of homicide under Mexican law, including extreme violence or economic reason for killing, such as an organized crime killing.