Gunmen storm hospital in Tijuana; 2 officers killed

TIJUANA —  Masked gunmen opened fire on police Wednesday at a large hospital as they searched for an accomplice wounded in an earlier gun battle, Mexican police and witnesses said.

Two state police officers were killed in the attack, which forced the evacuation of hundreds of patients from the seven-story facility.

The shootouts shattered a period of relative calm in the crime-weary border city, where thousands of soldiers and federal agents began patrolling the streets this year in an effort to combat growing drug-related violence.

Officials said the chain of events began when gunmen with suspected links to organized crime fought federal agents who had stopped the suspects’ car. One suspect was killed and another was injured, authorities said.

Shortly after the injured man arrived at Tijuana General Hospital, a group of about six gunmen tried to shoot their way into the emergency room, witnesses and police said. It was unclear whether the gunmen intended to rescue the man or kill him, police said.

Hospital workers said they were tending to patients when the barrage of gunfire shattered windows and gouged walls around the emergency room.

“We all hit the floor. It was terrifying,” Dr. Paola Garcia said.

No patients or hospital workers were injured in the attack, police said.

Five suspects were arrested. Details of the arrests were not released.

Mexico has been beset by increasingly brazen slayings sparked by competition among drug-trafficking groups seeking control of the lucrative trade routes into the United States.

In the western state of Michoacan, gunmen linked to drug traffickers tortured an alleged rival, then drove the victim’s truck over his head, leaving him in the street with a menacing note nailed to his chest and the corpse of his dog thrown on top of him, Reuters news agency reported.

Authorities said the victim, whose body was discovered Tuesday, was a member of a gang competing with the notorious Gulf cartel.

Even in Michoacan, where killers last year dumped five severed heads onto a club’s dance floor, the killing was met with shock.

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richard.marosi@latimes.com