This week’s brutal ambush of a family in northern Mexico that left three women and six children dead was yet another shocking attack in a country enduring a year of record-setting violence.

The attackers, who are believed to be members of organized crime, opened fire on three vehicles the family was traveling in, according to relatives and government officials. Several other children were injured in the attack, the family said.

The victims were part of one extended family, which emigrated from the United States to the region decades ago as part of a diaspora of families that call themselves Mormon but are no longer affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We asked readers their questions about the killings and the escalating violence in Mexico. Our reporters — Elisabeth Malkin and Kirk Semple in Mexico City and Elizabeth Dias in Washington — have answered a selection.