Juarez - Suspected drug gang hit men separately ambushed two cars carrying families with ties to the U.S. consulate in this violent border city, killing an American couple and a Mexican man. Three young children survived, although two suffered wounds.
The consulate employee and her husband, both U.S. citizens, were shot to death in their car near the Santa Fe International bridge linking Juarez with El Paso, said Vladimir Tuexi, a spokesman for the Chihuahua state prosecutors office.
The woman was shot in the head, while her husband suffered wounds in his neck and arm. Their baby was found unharmed in the back seat. Tuexi estimated the child was around 1 year old. The pair was identified as consular employee Lesley A. Enriquez, 35, and her husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, 34, by Robert Cason, Redelfs' stepfather. Redelfs was a detention officer at the El Paso County Jail, he said.
El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles has released a statement in reaction to the murder of detention officer Arthur Redelfs: "On behalf of the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office, I would like to extend our deepest sympathy & condolences to the family during this difficult time. Our thoughts & prayers are with them. Today is a somber day for the Sheriff’s Office as the news of this tragedy spread throughout our organization.”
The slayings came amid a surge in bloodshed on the border and drew condemnation from the White House.
Mexico's president expressed outrage and promised a fast investigation to find those responsible.
Authorities put suspicion on members of a gang of hit men allied with the Juarez drug cartel.
That theory is based on "information exchanged with U.S. federal agencies" helping in the investigation, according to a statement Sunday from the joint mission of soldiers and federal police overseeing security in Juarez.
While putting the blame on the drug gang, police offered no information on a possible motive in the slayings. U.S. State Department spokesman Fred Lash said only that the three dead people were at the same party before the attacks that occurred minutes apart Saturday afternoon.
Several U.S. citizens have been killed in Mexico's drug war, most of them people with family ties to Mexico. It is very rare for American government employees to be targeted, although attackers hurled grenades at the U.S. consulate in the northern city of Monterrey in 2008.
The State Department authorized U.S. government employees at Juarez and five other U.S. consulates in northern Mexico to send family members out of the area because of concerns about rising drug violence. The cities are Tijuana, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros.
Lash said the decision was based not only on Saturday's killings but also on a wider pattern of violence and threats in northern Mexico in recent weeks.
The State Department noted the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City has advised American citizens to delay unnecessary
travel to parts of the Mexican states of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua.
The U.S. government did not give any details on Enriquez's job at the consulate, and Cason said he didn't know what she did there.
A neighbor of Enriquez, Zonia Rivas, also didn't know. "I do know she just went back to work about three months ago after having her baby," she said.
Ten minutes before that killing, police in another part of the city found the body of the husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate.
Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, a Mexican citizen, was shot to death in his car, while his two children, ages 4 and 7, were wounded, according to the state prosecutors office. The children were hospitalized.
Civilians have increasingly gotten caught in the middle of drug gang violence that has made Ciudad Juarez one of the deadliest cities in the world, with more than 2,500 people killed last year alone.
The three died during a particularly bloody weekend in Mexico, with nearly 50 people killed in apparent gang violence.
Nine people were killed in a gang shootout early Sunday in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, one of Mexico's spring break attractions.
Juarez has long been wracked by drug-related violence, but other stretches of the frontier with Texas that had been
relatively quiet have seen a surge of killings recently.
U.S. officials briefly closed the consulate in Reynosa because of violence, which Mexican authorities have blamed on the breaking of an alliance between two drug gangs.
The office of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's office said he "expresses his indignation" and "his sincerest condolences to the families of the victims" of Saturday's attack.
Calderon "reiterated the Mexican government's unwavering compromise to resolve these grave crimes," his office said.
U.S. President Barack Obama was "deeply saddened and outraged" by the killings, the White House said.
"He extends his condolences to the families and condemns these attacks on consular and diplomatic personnel serving at our foreign missions," the statement said. "In concert with Mexican authorities, we will work tirelessly to bring their killers to justice."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "these appalling assaults on members of our own State Department family are, sadly, part of a growing tragedy besetting many communities in Mexico."
"They underscore the imperative of our continued commitment to work closely with the Government of President Calderon to cripple the influence of trafficking organizations at work in Mexico," she added. "This is a responsibility we must shoulder together."
I enjoyed reading all you guys comments. I lived in El Paso for 30 years, but I moved over by my daughter. I feel so sorry for El Paso, and the fear that you all must be feeling!
First of all, we should have elected Hillary. She didn't want fame like Obama, she just wanted to help.
We should spend all of that war money overseas to fight drug cartels. They are right next door! The rest of the money should go to feed, clothe, and house seniors, homeless, and orphaned pets.
Obama wants to bring justice to the those who murdered the innocent, but he will let the illegals continue to come into the US and let the illegals run his policies in MX.
Obama is the number one terrorist.
obama hahahhaha he doesnt give a crap he just said waht he said to up his ratings. i cant believe people still think this guy is actually gonna do something for our country. he's just digging us deeper into the hole. and all that crap about bush that why he's out. so know what the blame game doesnt do anything the guy cant fix anything. but obama he's the one people should pressure do do what he said and not just be a liar a deceiver of many.
gabriel411 ur an ediot most of the drugs that corss over our borders do not come in through our ports stupid. dang its agents on both sides that allow them to pass thru. and thats a fact ur a putts to even think that 1 billion dollars comes in thru our ports thats why nothing gets done cus people think like you.
SHUT UP ALL OF YOU! DONT YOU UNDERSTAND ITS ALL ABOUT CORRUPTION ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER HUMAN LOSS HAS AND WILL NEVER MATTER TO THE DEEP POCKET, MONEY HUNGRY POLITICIANS AND LAW ENFORCMENT AGENTS. WHY ARE WE BLAMING THE DRUG DEALERS WHEN ITS THE CORRUPT BIG WIGGS AND HEADS OF STATE AND GOV. THAT ARE AT FAULT. DANG YOU PEOPLE ARE SO GULLIBLE THAT YOU EAT THE LIES AND BELIEVE THE DECEPTIVE LIES OF THOSE THAT GOVERN YOU. TELL ME WHEN IN HISTORY HAS IT NOT BEEN ALL ABOUT POWER AND MONEY.
to Gabriel411, you're right, shutting down the border would probably disrupt drug trafficking, but why doesn't the US do it? Why are the cartels confident enough to send tons(literally) of marijuana through state of the art checkpoints at the bridges? why is el paso the second safest city in the US?
You can't blame the violence on just one factor, such as illegal immigration. I think it's just ridiculous because most of the illegal immigrants I have dealt with are hardworking individuals. Individuals that would avoid running a red light in an emergency because that would probably get them kicked out of the country. Plus why would a criminal need to risk there life in crossing to the US to commit a crime while they can do the same thing in Mexico where they are least likely to get caught?
So how can you shut down the border?
You got 2 choices: CBP does it on it´s own or someone will call in a bomb threat.
So if they can´t get the drugs across, someone will be in alot of trouble and they will come after them.
And it does look like it´s up to the American Government this time. So if you really want to fix it, you got the ball, don´t drop it...;-)
DUH!!!!!! AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR JOB? IF YOU SHUTDOWN THE BORDERS WILL BE DETREMENT TO OUR ECONOMY AND MORE THAN LIKELY WELL LOSE OUR JOBS. THE ONLY WAY THERE CAN BE AN IMPACT AGIANST THESE CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS IS BY HAVING CBP DOING CONCRETE CHECKS TO EVERYONE WHO LEAVES THE CONTRY TO PREVENT THNSE FLOW OF MONEY AND GUNS, BRING THE MILITARY TO AID US BORDER PATROL AND MEXICO NEED TO PUT THEIR MILITARY AT THEIR PORTS OF ENTRY TO CHECK THE VEHICLES AND COMERCIAL VEHICLES. THIS IS 1 WAY!
The answer to the problem came from with in, one of these narcs messed it up and soon the drug war will come to an end. How you may ask? Just take look at the American Consulate and the visa applicants, Im told they are going to close down the consulate till next wednesday and will reschedule there appointments. So if we can picture the American Consulate as the Border and the Applicants as the Drug going across it, all we need to do is SHUT DOWN THE BORDER for a determined ammount of time.
So we're pretending now that the violence in Juarez is the President's fault? the Mexican governement has been corrupt for decades and they are now reaping what they have sewn. Texan's, stay out of Mexico! Juarez is not our "sister city" we are American's first and Texan's second and El Paso is one of the safest cities in the USA. Grow up folks.
how do u you conclude your assumption about the president being blamed in this article for the violence in juarez? i its obvios that you are not aware of the efforts being made by the mexican government. i am a united states citizen and i travel weekly to mexico, and i have witnessed these efforts. i feel the u.s. i falling behind on these efforts. they need to establish a checkpoint for those who are entering mexico. EL PASO MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I LIVE IN A LIBERATED PRISON ITS NASTY!
When will this story make headlines in the national and international media not just for one day? Can't our local media push this story and ram it until it gets the attention it deserves?
I feel terrible for this family and especially their one year old child! What a tragedy! Sad to say that I am glad i don't live in El Paso anymore...I know it's not MX but way too close to the violence to sleep well at night. GBY
A child will grow up without parents. I refuse to travel to Mexico, others should do the same. I wish Channel 9 would stop calling Juarez our sister city. The truth is the U.S. can't force Mexico to change, they need to want to change. What we can do is round up all the illegals in El Paso that have drug ties and send them back to Juarez before they bring the violence here.
Whether anyone calls Juarez our sister city or not, it's not going to make a difference. So people STOP asking that because whether you like it or not, it is.
The illegal aliens have nothing to do with the violence in Mexico, The majority come to work I know some are not here with that in mind but is very IGNARENT from your part to say something like that! I have family in Juarez and they have never been in any type of problems, yes they are in danger like every innocent citizen in that country. But please don't be ignorant, I'm native of El Paso too and no one is bringing the violance here PLEEEASE.
like it or not the devil is roaming
americans dying in mexico is going to rise..whether you are young or old..its not about being at the wrong place at the wrong time...victims are victims and it doesnt matter how or why...everyone faces there end eventually...and the cowards commiting these crimes are not afraid of god....not affraid of the law because maybe to them those things dont exist....law and god are the lowest non existant things in this mexican nation...so what then what is next.....fear
cowardice fear
meican heritage is now shit...no more beautiful women and hard working men,,,the strong tequilla and chili with beans...tortialla and music were the lovely things of the mexican nation...no more no more
forget all those beautiful songs of love and gentleness...devotion and un faithfulness....no more no more
what does the world say of this mexican nation today
death....rape...abuse ....neglect.....nothing more but cowardice men and the women breeding them.
mexico is weak...men there are dishonorable, without pride and dignity...fear make them cowards...citizens of juarez when they catch these men with armed vehicals weapons..justice would be sweet with a public hanging...one everyone can celebrate daily. anyone agree....also democracy for the strong...independence for the weak.
Hello babybo915: The solutions is easy, America needs to shut down the border strategically. You have the controls...Or we can do it the Mexican way: 1.- Public Sit Down to block it, 2.- An accident like when a pick up burned down, any toyota will do...lol, 3.- Some crazy guy traing to do a suicide or 4.- The ver classic Bomb Threat.
Both of them were good persons and did not deserve this... neither their one year old daughter... Mexican government needs to do something and Obama send your soldiers to Cd Juarez and do something good
The solutions is easy, America needs to shut down the border strategically. You have the controls...Or we can do it the Mexican way: 1.- Public Sit Down to block it, 2.- An accident like when a pick up burned down, any toyota will do...lol, 3.- Some crazy guy traing to do a suicide or 4.- The ver classic Bomb Threat.
I did not believe Obama while he was campaigning and I surely do no believe him now!! IMPEACH!
IMPEACH OBAMA!! I did not vote for him. He sounded too good to be true while he was campaigning... sure enough, he has NOT changed a darn thing. Full of promises with nothing to back it up. Everything's gone downhill since his presidency. IMPEACH!!
HOW DO YOU EXPECT FOR OBAMA TO FIX 8 YRS OF BUSH IN 1 YR OF RUNNING.
I don't know why they say Juarez isn't a sister city when they have relatives in Juarez, or are probably even from Juarez. How soon we forget our roots. Besides, where is our humane side? We should look at the whole picture. There will never be a solution to this problem while corruption exists. And you can't tell me that there is not corruption on this side of the border, because you know as well as I, that there is.
The uncorrupted people in Mexico try to get the UN evolve but president Calderon has to sign the petition for the aid, and he refuse to do so. Remember that corruption comes from to top.
What really needs to be done is, the U.S. Government needs to send US troops to settle everything down. We need to show Mexico how it's done. It's gonna happen sooner or later, might as well do it NOW.
I totally agree. Obama always says he understands and wants change, but he is tucked safely in the white house and getting paid. I didn't vote for him and he isn't my president. How ironic he wants to make changes and yet he hasn't truly changed nothing. I wish he could be impeached and we vote all over again.
He's our president whether we like it or not...I too feel sorry for the families of the two Americans killed in Juarez. If possible...DO NOT TRAVEL TO MEXICO!!!!! Stay away from that hell hole until and even if it Ever gets better.
WHO CARES ABOUT ALL THE INNOCENT PEOPLE GETTING SLAUTERED IN JUAREZ, HOW MANY CHILDREN ARE LEFT ORPHANED. HELL, BUT KILL A COP AND HIS FED WIFE AND WE GET THE PRESIDENTS ATTENTION! I FEEL FOR THE FAMILYS LOSS BUT IT SHOULDNT HAVE TO COME TO THIS.
That is the most ignotant comment! These two people spent there lives working in civil service serving people like you! He was not a "cop" but a detention officer who devoted his time to keeping everyone safe so they are free to sit at home and post stupid comments like " HELL, BUT KILL A COP AND HIS FED WIFE AND WE GET THE PRESIDENTS ATTENTION". Every life is important but when a life is lost that was devoted to protecting others it will draw a different kind of attention! Be greatful!
one reason we are in iraq ans aphganistan IS because of failed governments. Mexico has had a failed government for decades. "I hear the choppers hovering, they're hovering overhead. The've coe to get the wounded, they've come to take the dead"...
Art you were a good soul and you will be missed.
Obama can only do so much at once! Give him time, back up off him! He hasn't been in office that long! Change takes time! People are so ignorant to think that Obama can immediately do what he said he would! Especially, when he has to sort through the chaos and total disaster that Bush left behind! No one wants to speak on that though! Everyone was cowardly and quiet while Bush was screwing things up, yet expect miracles from Obama! JESUS CHRIST is the only HELP for this world! HE'S THE SAVIOUR!
way to go.....no ones talk about how bush on how he left everything
You're right ! A lot of people don't have a clue that coming in the White House isn't easy. All Presidents, have to clean up the previous President's mess first in order to do what the current President to do their things. So, many idiots Americans have no such idea how the White House works. Better, yet. Just keep your mouth shut and go on with your life and do something better for your community instead of blaming President Obama.
Heck yea man! Very well said. It took Bush 8 yrs to screw things up but people want Obama to fix things in 1 yr? Crazy huh? Jesus Christ IS OUR only savior.
You have to be kidding! This guy has been a human recking ball to the economy, the judicial system, and now the health care system is his next targe. He promised to create 3 million jobs, but he has managed to loss twice as many. This "blame Bush for everything" campain is such a joke that no one (except delusional and totally ignorant people) actually believe it. Those of you with the most to lose are doing nothing to prevent total devastation of life as we know it.
Couldn't agree with you more! This so called president if full of broken promises... I don't even know how he got the job!!! WAKE UP, USA!
to gq2472007 Obama is pulling forces from iraq and they are being diverted to afghanistan where they should have been in the first place. and for the violence in mexico its their corrupt politicians that have caused all this. many of the former and even current law enforcement leaders are deep in the pockets of the cartels. the only way to prevent the violence from spilling over is to be vigilant and observe your new neighbors. many midlevel ranking drug dealers have crossed to this side.
What should of been done is make a parking lot out of Iraq just like Hiroshima in 1990 and 911 wouldnt of happened..Good ol slippery Bill and Gore made a deal in 1993 to get Atta out of an Israeli jail and u see what that did to USA..We wouldnt be in Afganistan..Who lets a Terrorist like Khadifi in the USA?OBAMA!
why not just close the borders like the government did in the 1970's when that DEA agent got killed in Mexico. THat will get the Mexican goverment to take action and hand over the killers.
I am very disappointed that they need to start killing individuals that work or have worked for the federal government to start doing something with the violence in our sister city. Who cares about the millions of people that live there and individuals like myself who enjoyed going to Cd. Juarez for the simplest thing like dinner. In which we can no longer do cause of FEAR!
You all fail to understand that Juarez is not our sister city, It is a third world country. And why do you have to go to Mexico to eat. There are plenty of fine restruants right here in El Paso.
To searchall: Juarez and El Paso are siter cities, more than half of El Paso's population has links with it (family, business etc.),Juarez is located in a third world country and is government is really corrupted, but we all have to take responsability for the violence that is going on in Juarez because let's face it, if the drug cartels are prospering in Juarez is because the US is not protecting it's borders good enough and makes it easy for the drug cartels to export their drugs.
I just hope that all of you didn't vote for him and now are complaining about the way he is handling the country. Obama has a lot of problems to fix and the problems here in our city and across the border are not a priority for him. The corrupt mexican goverment is at fault on this and they should fix it, before Mexico turns into another Afganistan. My condolences to their families, friends, and loved ones and please don't travel to Mexico unless you have a dead wish.
We do have a LIAR as a president, he does not care since he is safe in The White The only thing to do is just stay away from Mexico. Yes we know it already spilled over in to el Paso but we all know they will not get away with it on this side. So that makes it a little better.