16 Die in Shootout in Mexican Pacific Resort City

MEXICO CITY – At least 16 people died in a shootout between vigilantes and suspected criminals in Xolapa, a town outside the Mexican Pacific resort city of Acapulco, state officials said.

The victims of Saturday’s shootout were members of the United Front for Security and Development in Guerrero State, or FUSDEG, the Guerrero Attorney General’s Office said.

FUSDEG members engaged the gunmen in a shootout, the daily La Jornada reported, citing state officials.

An Efe reporter confirmed that nine people had died in a shootout involving the self-styled community police force just minutes before the information about the shootout came out.

The shootout occurred around 5:45 p.m. on Saturday and an investigation was opened to “determine the number of dead and wounded,” the AG’s office said.

The shootout involved vigilantes under the command of Salvador Alanis Trujillo and former FUSDEG members led by Ignacio Policarpio, the AG’s office said.

The two groups “apparently have an ongoing dispute over territory in the Acapulco-Chilpancingo corridor,” the AG’s office said.