A Mexican government report shows that four soldiers opened fire without justification on a pickup truck during a pursuit in the northern border town of Nuevo Laredo in February.
The February 25 incident killed five men, including two alleged members of the Northeast Cartel, and injured another alleged accomplice.
The case was referred to civilian and military prosecutors, but the National Human Rights Commission stepped forward on Tuesday and released the damning report finding that four of the 21 soldiers on patrol that morning fired at the vehicle driven by Gustavo Suárez.
The 21-year-old American from San Antonio, Texas, who was linked to the criminal organization according to intelligence reports from TV Azteca, reportedly refused to stop after being told to do so and lost control of the pickup before crashing into a parked vehicle.
The report claimed that the four soldiers fired a total of 117 rounds at the pickup. Three of the soldiers told investigators they opened fire to support the first soldier who started firing.
“Without giving verbal orders (to stop), one soldier opened fire on the back of the private vehicle, and three other soldiers did the same to support the former,” the report said.
Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission released a report on Tuesday alleging that Gustavo Suárez, an American from Texas, and six other men were shot 117 times by soldiers who acted without justification after a high-speed chase in the northern border town of Nuevo.
Residents offer comfort to Humberto Suárez (sitting on the ground), the father of Gustavo Suárez, an American man who was one of five young men shot dead by the Mexican army on February 25 in the northern border town of Nuevo Laredo
The findings revealed that the soldiers had used excessive force and violated the men’s rights.
Reports indicated that Suárez was shot 12 times. Wilberto Mata, who was also linked to the Northeast Cartel, was shot 10 times.
A third victim, Alejandro Trujillo, died from being shot five times. Jonathan Aguilar did not survive after being beaten in the temple. Gustavo Pérez died after being shot twice – in the side and on the right forearm.
Luis Martínez, who was shot twice and survived, was also an alleged member of the Cartel del Noreste, according to his Facebook account. He had previously changed his profile picture to the logo of the criminal organization’s 35th Special Forces Battalion.
Pérez’s brother, Alejandro Pérez, was unharmed and told Univision that he saw the moment when his sibling was shot at close range.
Shortly after the shooting, the Defense Department confirmed soldiers opened fire on the truck, saying it was cooperating with civilian prosecutors who were investigating the deaths.
The department said the soldiers heard gunshots and approached a pickup truck in the early hours with no license plates and no lights.
“On seeing the army troops, they (the occupiers) accelerated brusquely and evasively,” the statement said.
An intelligence report obtained by TV Azteca indicated that Wilberto Mata, one of five young men killed by a soldier in the northern border town of Nuevo Laredo, was an alleged member of the Cartel del Noreste (Northeast Cartel).
Alejandro Trujillo was one of five men shot dead by soldiers on February 25 in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
However, surveillance video showed the pickup truck with its lights on being chased by two military vehicles.
Soldiers said that when they heard the crash, they opened fire. The military did not say whether they thought the blast was a gunshot.
There was no indication in the crime scene reports that any weapons were found in the vehicle after the shootings, and the Human Rights Commission said there was no evidence of shots being fired at the army patrol.
However, the commission noted that the victims tested positive for chemical traces related to the handling or firing of firearms in the recent past.
Jonathan Aguilar did not survive after being shot in the temple by one of four Mexican soldiers who opened fire on the vehicle he was riding after it crashed into a parked vehicle in the border town of Nuevo Laredo on Feb. 25.
Gustavo Suárez’s father, Humberto Suárez (second from left), lunges at a soldier during a confrontation between civilians and the military after his 21-year-old son and four other young men were killed. A sixth victim was shot at least twice and is in an induced coma
The commission recommended that the case be pursued and that reparations be made to the families of the victims.
Nuevo Laredo is dominated by the violent Northeast Drug Cartel, an offshoot of the old Zetas Cartel. Soldiers and Marines have regularly come under fire from heavily armed cartel gunmen in Nuevo Laredo.
The city has also been the scene of human rights abuses by the military in the past.
In 2021, the Mexican Navy turned over 30 Marines to civilian prosecutors to face trial in the cases of people who disappeared during anti-crime operations in Nuevo Laredo in 2014. Marines were charged with rounding up suspected suspects, some of whom went unreported heard . In 2018, dozens of people disappeared in Nuevo Laredo.
Under Mexican law, military tribunals can only hear cases involving violations of the military code. Crimes against civilians should be tried in civilian courts.