Posted by DD Republished from Fox News Latino
Chilpancingo, Mexico – A 16-year-old boy was killed by gunmen inside a church in the Mexican Pacific resort city of Acapulco, but the motive for the killing has not been determined, state prosecutors said last Wednesday.
The boy was gunned down Tuesday inside the Parroquia del Niño Jesus in Acapulco's Juan R. Escudero district after being chased by several armed men, the Guerrero state Attorney General's Office said.
The shooting occurred around 5:00 p.m. while Mass was being celebrated at the church, police said.
The boy was shot several times in the head and back, police said.
AG's office crime scene investigators gathered evidence at the church, finding at least 14 bullet casings from 9 mm firearms.
Acapulco, located in the southern state of Guerrero, has become one of the most dangerous cities in Latin America due to its high murder rate.
The Pacific resort is the third most violent city in Latin America, with a homicide rate of 104.73 per 100,000 residents, the Citizens Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice said in a report released earlier this year.
Several gangs that split off from the Beltrán Leyva drug cartel have been waging a turf war in the resort city for months.
A total of 1,052 murders occurred in Acapulco, according to National Public Safety System figures, in the first half of this year.