PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Coahuila – More than a dozen armored trucks filled with Los Zetas cartel gunmen rolled into a small rural town in the border state of Coahuila. The gunmen spread terror as they attacked the city hall building. The incursion turned into a fierce shootout and several chases where at least 14 cartel gunmen, three civilians, and four police officers died. Preliminary reports point to six additional people sustaining gunshot injuries.

UPDATE: Initial reports overnight indicated that at least 14 people died during the running gun battles. A statement by the Mexican government revealed that 7 more gunmen died in a clash in Nuevo Leon as authorities continue a manhunt for the gunmen.

The violence began on Saturday morning. More than a dozen armored trucks, some with machine guns mounted on top, left the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas driving towards the state of Coahuila. The gunmen are members of a faction of Los Zetas called Cartel Del Noreste. Law enforcement sources consulted by Breitbart Texas revealed the gunmen took a rural dirt road known as Brecha Santa Monica that led them to the town of Villa Union.

Once in the town, the gunmen drove to the plaza square where they fired several machine guns at the city hall building in a brazen attack that spread terror among local residents. During their attack, several municipal police officers from Villa Union tried to fight off the attackers, however, the gunmen pushed them back and torched several police vehicles.

Authorities called for help leading to a massive deployment of state police officers from various units, and municipal police officers from Piedras Negras, Allende, and several other municipalities who rushed to the scene and clashed with the dozens of Los Zetas gunmen. The cartel gunmen wore body armor and tactical vest emblazoned with the CDN-Los Zetas logo. The armored vehicles that the cartel gunmen used also had similar decals identifying them as members of CDN-Los Zetas.

After the gunbattle, the governor of Coahuila and the mayor of Piedras Negras toured the area of the attack, talking with residents and local news outlets.

#OJO #VillaUnión #Coahuila El gobernador de coahuila y el alcalde de piedras negras recorren la zona del enfrentamiento entre sicarios del Cártel Del noreste y elementos del ejército mexicano y policías estatales de coahuila. pic.twitter.com/L1wEo1VJxd — La Voz Del Pueblo (Oficial) (@LPueblo2) December 1, 2019

State officials confirmed that in addition to the 14 fatalities and six injuries, they seized at least 14 cartel trucks — some of them armored — that the gunmen had been using. The figures are preliminary in nature and could rise in the coming days.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.M. Martinez” from Coahuila and Tony Aranda from Nuevo Leon.