Tijuana club shooting leaves one dead, one wounded

Two persons were shot at Tijuana’s Ruta 6 bar on Saturday night, March 9. According to reports in Tijuana's daily Frontera, one of the victims has died, while the other remains hospitalized, status unknown.

Gunfire erupted in the club, located on Calle Sexta (6th Street, between Avenida Negrete and Francisco I. Madero, two blocks east of Avenida Revolución), at around 8 p.m. Reports from witnesses in the club were not clear as to whether the two armed assailants were already in the club with the two victims or if they arrived at the club to carry out the shootings. (Hearsay: a waitress was shot.)

After the gunfire, the two assailants fled the scene in a gray sedan, which was subsequently stopped by police after a manhunt. The two suspects were arrested.

Reports to the Mexican media said the two suspects fitting the description of the assailants were being subjected to chemical tests for expended gunpowder traces on their persons. Results of the tests were not available at press time.

The day after the shooting, it was announced that the murder  victim was Ismael Valle Tapia, 25, the son of the Ruta 6 nightclub owner. Four .9 mm shell casings and one .45 mm casing were recovered from the scene.

After ballistics tests, it was determined that the .9 mm pistol seized upon the arrest of the suspects was used in at least seven recent murders in Tijuana. Updated reports also indicate that the motive for the shooting was drug-gang turf rivalry at the street-dealer level between the deceased and his killers.

Up to Saturday night’s shooting, the number of murders committed in Tijuana so far this year was 95.