A Tecate city council member was wounded in a shooting and her husband was killed Tuesday while they were on their way to a graduation, in what Mexican officials said appeared to be a “direct and planned attack.”
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Councilmember María Quijada of Mexico’s ruling Morena party was reported to be in critical condition, but stable, Baja California state officials said Wednesday. Her husband, Jesús Pereida, died.
The case is under investigation by the Baja California Attorney General’s Office. No arrests have been made.
“Due to the sensitive nature of the investigation and the current status of the case, I can’t share further details,” Attorney General María Elena Andrade said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Andrade said that on Tuesday night, authorities executed search warrants and found the vehicle suspected of being involved in the shooting burned. She declined to answer whether the couple had previously received threats. She said that authorities are following two possible lines of investigation.
Officials said the incident was reported around 5:20 p.m. in the La Hacienda neighborhood of Tecate. The couple and their driver were inside a parked vehicle, planning to attend a graduation, when the suspects approached them from another vehicle and opened fire with long guns. The driver was not injured, Andrade told reporters. Investigators found 45 spent shell casings at the scene.
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Federal officials said that a child was also injured in the shooting and that both the minor and the council member were transported to a U.S. hospital.
Tecate Mayor Román Cota said in a social media post on Tuesday that the city is “going through a time of deep sorrow” following the “cowardly attack” on Quijada and her husband.
“Those of us who have worked with María on the city council know how much she loves Tecate and how dedicated she is to serving our community,” he wrote. “Today, more than ever, she and her loved ones need to know that they are not alone.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called it a “very regrettable case” during her daily press conference on Wednesday and said it is being investigated.
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