REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Six innocent bystanders were killed and another was injured during a series of fierce gun battles where rival factions of the Gulf Cartel clashed with each other and Mexican authorities for control of the area.

The Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office confirmed it started an investigation into the murder of the bystanders. Three of the victims were identified as workers of a local manufacturing plant while three others are described as members of a family. Two of the victims are female while the other four are males. Authorities claim tests on the victims’ bodies revealed they did not fire any weapons and were simple bystanders.

Preliminary information revealed by authorities pointed to the victims being simply in the Petrolera neighborhood at the time when cartel gunmen clashed with Mexican authorities. Emergency personnel rushed to the scene but confirmed that six of the seven victims were already dead.

On the day of the fatal shootout, rival factions of the Gulf Cartel clashed at least 10 times throughout Reynosa and in the outlying rural areas. The fighting led to a total of eight fatalities.

The fierce fighting between the rival Gulf factions has led to 444 fatalities including cartel gunmen, military, law enforcement, and innocent bystanders.

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 “A.C. Del Angel” from Tamaulipas.