A group of gunmen ambushed and killed five state police officers in the southern state of Oaxaca. Two other officers sustained serious gunshot wounds during the attack.

The attack took place on Friday afternoon in the municipality of San Vicente Coatlan, near a rural area known as La Cementera. According to Mexico’s Excelsior, a group of unknown gunmen attacked the squad of officers as they carried out a series of enforcement patrols in the area. The officers had been patrolling in the police vehicles marked #1730 and #1718.

The officers called for help after the initial attack. This led to a large-scale deployment of police officers and emergency medical personnel that quickly arrived in the area. Paramedics rushed the two wounded officers to local hospitals while state investigators transported the fallen officers to a local morgue. Authorities did not disclose which criminal organization or cartel carried out the attack.

A video released by the citizen journalist page La Voz del Pueblo revealed the moment when state police officers gathered at the morgue expressing their sorrow in front of their fellow fallen officers.

#OJO #SanVicenteCoatlan #Oaxaca Así vivieron Policías Estatales la perdidas de sus compañeros que fueron emboscados por un comando armado. Saldo:

5 policías Muertos

1 Policia Herido (estado crítico ).#FuchiGuácala #LosAbrazosNoSirven pic.twitter.com/7SmB9GWh0N — La Voz Del Pueblo (Oficial) (@LPueblo2) November 9, 2019

In the aftermath of the attack, Oaxaca state officials took to social media to condemn the attack and vowed to bring justice to the families of the fallen officers.

El deceso de nuestros compañeros policías lastima a la SSPO y a toda la sociedad oaxaqueña. A sus deudos y familiares, nuestra solidaridad total.

Al límite de capacidades y valores, nuestros esfuerzos se encaminarán a que la justicia siempre se imponga a la barbarie. DEP pic.twitter.com/VVFHPnMYfd — Sría. Seg. Púb. Oax. (@SSP_GobOax) November 9, 2019

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.