Mexico’s military and National Guard are increasingly taking over security in Mexico as the president moves towards the militarization of the country. However, those armed forces who are meant to protect the population are increasingly involved in kidnappings and killings of innocent people.
The same situation appears to have occurred on Wednesday night in Nuevo Laredo when a five-year-old girl was shot to death, in a somewhat confusing event involving several military patrols.
The girl’s name was Heidi Mariana Pérez. As reported by her grandmother to local media, the girl, her seven-year-old brother, and the person who took care of them went to the hospital in a car. The grandmother, Adriana Rodríguez, explained that the girl felt “unwell”, so they went to the medical center, where the little girl’s mother worked. Shortly before arriving, a burst of bullets hit the vehicle, injuring the caregiver, who was driving, in her left shoulder. A bullet also hit the girl in the head. The little girl died instantly.
The minor’s grandmother explained to the media this Thursday that soldiers who were on several patrols in the area fired at the vehicle in which the minors were traveling. It is not clear in what context the shooting occurred, whether the military, for example, were participating in a confrontation or a pursuit. Until this Thursday night, the Secretary of Defense has not reported what happened.
A source from the Tamaulipas Prosecutor’s Office has reported that there is an open investigation: “There are many versions on networks that it was the Army, we are not sure that it was them, but we are investigating it.”
