Ocotlan, Mexico--A mechanic was working under a car when he turned his head and saw a dozen pick-up trucks creeping down the street in Mexico's western state of Jalisco.
"The devil is on the loose," Jorge Gerardo Herrera said ominously to his colleagues as he turned back to the car he was fixing in the town of Ocotlan.
Suddenly, a gunfight erupted and a stray bullet landed in the mechanic's heart, turning him into the latest innocent and forgotten victim of Mexico's cruel drug violence.
His death was recounted by the garage's owner, Felipe de Jesus Ramirez, who was there when members of the powerful Jalisco New Generation drug cartel ambushed a federal gendarmerie convoy on March 19.
Eleven people died in the shootout, including five police officers, three suspected gunmen and three bystanders. The victims included a teenager who was returning home after doing his homework at a friend's place.
"We could hear the bullets whizzing by," Ramirez said. He ran into his garage with a woman and five girls who had been walking nearby.
Jorge Gerardo died as he stepped onto the sidewalk, caught by a bullet that felled him instantly. He was 25 and about to get married.
AFP
