Mexican police officers jailed in shooting of 2 Americans

MEXICO CITY — A Mexican judge has ordered 12 federal police officers jailed for 40 days as authorities investigate Friday's shooting of two American officials attached to the U.S. Embassy.

The 12 officers face charges of abuse of authority and other crimes. The Americans, reported to be in stable condition, were traveling in an armored SUV when the vehicle was hit by at least 30 bullets, some fired at close range.

"Without a doubt it's a matter that must be investigated to its ultimate consequences," Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales said Monday.

Both U.S. and Mexican officials declined Monday to provide further details on the incident, which has laid bare the tensions and deficiencies plaguing Mexico's six-year offensive against gangsters. That offensive is partially financed by the United States under the $1.8 billion Merida Initiative, which includes U.S. training and intelligence support for Mexico's military and federal police.

"We need a clear understanding of what happened and why it happened," said Texas Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, who has been critical of Mexico's anti-gangster efforts.

U.S. officials declined to identify the wounded Americans or their jobs at the embassy. A Mexican Navy captain riding with them was not harmed.

Mexican officials say the Americans were ambushed by men dressed in civilian clothing and riding in unmarked vehicles. Unnamed officials in Mexican press accounts described the federal police involvement as a case of mistaken identity, explaining that the embassy vehicle was fired upon as it approached a hastily set up highway roadblock.

A lawyer for some of the accused officers says they were searching for kidnappers when they responded to the shooting and got mired in the confusion.

Photos of the vehicle show no bullet damage to the windshield. They show the vehicle's reinforced rear and front passenger side windows pocked with bullets, but apparently not penetrated. It remains unclear how and when the Americans might have been wounded.

Gunmen in 2 cars

Witnesses to the worst of the shooting told the Houston Chronicle they never saw the men leave their vehicle. The attack began about 8 a.m. Friday as they drove along a potholed lane toward the Mexican Navy's isolated training camp in the mountains 30 miles south of the Mexican capital.

The witnesses interviewed, all of whom asked not to be identified, said two cars filled with gunmen swarmed the Americans in the parking area of a large gas station along the heavily traveled two-lane highway near the town of Tres Marias.

Workers at the station first heard what they described as machine-gun fire moments before the black embassy vehicle pulled into the lot, its front right tire flat. A few moments later, a canary yellow SUV swept in behind the Americans, who hurriedly headed for the highway again.

Fearing a robbery, security guards herded customers into the station's restaurant and store. The gunmen jumped from a car, firing at the embassy vehicle from less than 10 feet away.

"They were aiming for the tires, trying to stop them," said one witness, who said bullets whizzed past his head close enough to be heard. "It isn't possible that it was like they're saying, that it was mistaken identity."

Its tires blown, the embassy vehicle lurched onto the highway heading south toward Tres Marias, a few miles down the mountain. The vehicle finally stopped less than a mile from the station.

'Rolling on their rims'

Another witness, who stood 5 feet from the Americans' vehicle moments before it first crossed the highway into the gas station, said it appeared to not have yet been hit by bullets.

This witness watched the SUV head down the highway after leaving the station, with the gunmen firing stray bullets that sliced limbs from trees. A few moments later, heavy gunfire sounded down the road, and then it went quickly silent. "They were rolling on their rims," the witness said of the embassy SUV. "It was a miracle they didn't roll over." The SUV finally stopped about a mile from the gas station. The police reportedly fled as marine reinforcements arrived.

None of the witnesses interviewed saw uniformed federal policemen or official marked cars during the shooting, they said. But federal police often patrol the area in civilian dress and unmarked cars, they said.

dudley.althaus@chron.com