Boy hitman in Tijuana

A Tijuana youth who allegedly responded to a solicitation on Facebook seeking a gunman for hire has been arrested on murder charges.

Local news media are referring to the 14-year-old suspect as “the boy hitman” after he allegedly shot and killed a man on Saturday, October 10th, in the Zona Norte.

Authorities say the teen, identified as Ulises Abraham, responded to an offer on Facebook promising 31,000 pesos (about $1937) to anyone willing to commit the murder.

Investigators said Abraham gave the following account of the plot:

Following instructions he received via Facebook, he met an unidentified taxi driver on Avenida Revolución in downtown Tijuana on the evening of October 10th. The taxi driver gave him a handgun, then took him via taxi to a place on Calle Coahuila and pointed out the target. Abraham said he was to commit the murder and return to Avenida Revolución afterward, where he would be paid for the deed.

Abraham allegedly shot and killed a man identified in a police press release as Guillermo Gastélum Jacques. No other details about the victim or the specific location of the shooting were given. Earlier press accounts said the shooting occurred at about 7:40 p.m. and that the assassin fired multiple times into a crowd.

Municipal police apprehended the teen as he allegedly ran from Calle Coahuila toward Avenida Revolución shortly after the shooting. Authorities said they recovered a .40 caliber pistol during a search of the 14-year-old.

Abraham told investigators he did not know the taxi driver by name, and so far detectives have been unable to identify him either, according to press accounts.

State investigators said that because of his age, Abraham was turned over to juvenile court.

(corrected 10/17, 7:50 a.m.)