MORELIA, Mexico – A 7-year-old boy was killed and four other people, including two children, were wounded in a shootout on a highway in the western Mexican state of Michoacan following the arrest of a vigilante leader, security officials said.
The boy, identified as Heriberto Reyes Garcia, was shot in the head Sunday on the highway that links the Pacific coast cities of Aquila and Coahuayana, the Michoacan Coordination Group said.
Soldiers manning a checkpoint opened fire in the village of Ixtapilla on some Nahua Indians who were protesting the arrest a few hours earlier of vigilante leader Semei Verdia Zepeda, residents said.
Verdia is the main leader of the community self-defense group in Aquila, where residents took up arms in February 2013 to fight the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel.
The vigilante leader was arrested on Sunday morning for allegedly carrying two assault rifles and a pistol.
Members of an unidentified armed group opened fire on residents and soldiers, said the Michoacan Coordination Group, which is under the command of XII Military Region chief Gen. Pedro Felipe Gurrola Ramirez.
Residents in several towns and cities formed vigilante groups to fight the Caballeros Templarios in Michoacan, where the federal government has deployed police and army troops to restore order.
President Enrique Peña Nieto legalized the community self-defense groups, incorporating them into the Rural Force, a law enforcement agency overseen by the state Public Safety Secretariat.
Aquila, one of three cities in Michoacan that lie on the Pacific coast, is mainly inhabited by Nahua Indians who earn a living from mining in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains.
The Caballeros Templarios cartel was created in 2010 by former members of the Familia Michoacana organization.
The cartel, which deals in both synthetic and natural drugs, commits murders, stages kidnappings and runs extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies in Michoacan.
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