17 Dead In Prison Break At Mexican Facility; Inmates Shot Firearms At Guards
An attempted prison break resulted in the deaths of 17 people in northern Mexico on Tuesday.
The incident occurred at the Cereso No. 2 prison facility in Gomez Palacio. Durango state officials released a statement that a handful of inmates acquired guns and attempted to flee the prison around 5 p.m., causing a riot.
"The inmates started to shoot with firearms toward the guard towers and the guard areas," the Durango State Public Safety Department said in a statement, as reported by The Associated Press.
The guards worked toward quelling the rioting inmates by firing gunshots in the air. The inmates and the guards shot at each other and the incident turned into a "massive prison break."
Six guards and 11 inmates were killed during the incident, which ended when troops from the Mexican military were called to assist the prison guards. It is unknown exactly how the prisoners were able to acquire the firearms and an investigation is ongoing to figure out who is responsible.
This is not the only violent instance that has occurred at the northern Mexico prison. Last year, 11 inmates were killed during a prison riot and another incident occurred in July 2010 where the attorney general's office of Mexico alleged that inmates were let out to kill members of a rival drug gang, according to CNN.
An investigation into the incident showed that top prison officials let a group of inmates carry out an attack that killed 17 people. The prisoners were taken out of the prison in police vehicles and returned after the killing was completed.
A trial for the incident ended with 10 Mexican prison officials and the former director of the facility sentenced to jail time in federal penitentiaries.
