Mexico: Gunmen attack funeral in Coahuila state leaving 8 dead
Relatives and friends of Mexican journalist Victor Baez attend his funeral in Xalapa in Veracruz state on June 15, 2012. Attacks on funerals in Mexico are not common.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Eight people including a six-year-old girl were killed and 23 others were injured after gunmen opened fire at a graveside funeral in the violent state of Coahuila in northern Mexico.
The mass shooting happened Monday in a cemetery in the city of Torreon as mourners gathered to bury Ricardo Valdes Bolivar, who was killed on Saturday, La Jornada reported.
The Associated Press said Valdes Bolivar was shot dead as he sat in his imported luxury car. His killers were most likely members of a drug cartel.
According to Spanish news agency EFE, three vanloads of gunmen armed with assault rifles pulled up at the funeral ceremony and started shooting the mourners.
The AP said some of the mourners were carrying their own weapons and returned fire.
Coahuila is the same state where 131 prisoners escaped from jail earlier this month.
More from GlobalPost: Mexico: Zetas blamed for mass prison break near US border
Sixteen security personnel at the prison were taken into custody after the mass prison break in Piedras Negras, a city across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas.
The state has been the scene of violent battles between the Zetas and Sinaloa drug cartels, which are fighting for control of drug smuggling routes into the United States.