Mexican soldiers fired 117 times at seven unarmed men, including American with cartel ties

A Mexican government report has revealed four soldiers opened fire without justification on a pickup truck during a pursuit in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo in February.

The February 25 incident left five men, including two alleged members of the Northeast Cartel, dead and wounded another purported henchman.

The case was referred to civilian and military prosecutors, but the National Human Rights Commission came forward Tuesday and issued the scathing report that found that four of the 21 soldiers who were on patrol that morning shot at the vehicle driven by Gustavo Suárez.

The 21-year-old American from San Antonio, Texas, who was linked to the criminal organization according to intelligence reports obtained by TV Azteca, reportedly refused to pull over after he was instructed to do so and lost control of the pickup truck before he crashed into a parked vehicle.

The report claimed the four soldiers fired a total of 117 shots at the pickup. Three of the servicemen told investigators that they opened fire to support the first soldier who started shooting.

‘Without giving verbal orders (to pull over), one soldier opened fire into the back of the private vehicle, and three other soldiers did the same to support the first one,’ according to the report.

Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission released a report Tuesday that claimed that Gustavo Suárez, an American from Texas, and six other men were shot at 117 times by soldiers who acted without justification following a high-speed pursuit in the northern border town of Nuevo 

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Residents provide comfort to Humberto Suárez (sitting on the ground), the father of Gustavo Suárez, an American man who was among five young men shot dead by the Mexican military on February 25 in the northern border town of Nuevo Laredo 

The findings showed that the soldiers had committed excessive use of force and violated the rights of the men.

Reports showed that Suárez was shot 12 times. Wilberto Mata, who was also linked to the Northeast Cartel, was shot 10 times.

A third victim, Alejandro Trujillo, died from being shot five times. Jonathan Aguilar did not survive after he was struck in the temple. Gustavo Pérez died after he was shot two times – on the side and on the right forearm.

Luis Martínez, who was shot two times and survived, was also an alleged member of the Cartel del Noreste, according to his Facebook account. He had previously changed his profile image to the logo of the criminal organization’s special forces 35th battalion.

Pérez’s brother, Alejandro Pérez, was unharmed and told Univision that he saw the moment his sibling was shot at point-blank range.

Soon after the shootings, the Defense Department confirmed that soldiers opened fire on the truck and said it was cooperating with civilian prosecutors investigating the deaths.

The department said the soldiers heard gunshots, and approached a pickup with no license plates and no lights in the pre-dawn hours.

‘Upon seeing the army troops, they (the occupants) accelerated in a brusque and evasive way,’ according to the statement.

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An intelligence report obtained by TV Azteca indicated that Wilberto Mata, one of the five young men killed by soldier in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo, was an alleged member of the Cartel del Noreste ( Northeast Cartel)

Alejandro Trujillo was one of five men who were shot dead by soldiers in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, on February 25

However, a surveillance video showed the pickup truck had its lights on as it was being chased by two military vehicles. 

Soldiers said that when the heard the crash, they opened fire. The army did not say whether they thought the bang was a gunshot.

There was no indication in crime scene reports of any weapons found in the vehicle after the shootings, and the human rights commission said there was no evidence of any shots fired at the army patrol.

However, the commission noted that the victims tested positive for chemical traces associated with having handled or discharged firearms in the recent past.

Jonathan Aguilar did not survive after he was shot in the temple by one of the four Mexican soldiers who opened fire on the vehicle he was riding on after it crashed into a parked vehicle in the border city of Nuevo Laredo on February 25

Gustavo Suárez’s father, Humberto Suárez (second from left),  lunges at a soldier during a confrontation between civilians and the military after his 21-year-old son and four other young men were killed. A sixth victim was shot at least twice and is in an induced coma

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The commission recommended that the case be prosecuted and that reparations be made to the victims’ families.

Nuevo Laredo is dominated by the violent Northeast drug cartel, an offshoot of the old Zetas cartel. Soldiers and marines have frequently come under fire from heavily armed cartel gunmen in Nuevo Laredo.

The city has also been the scene of human rights violations by the military in the past.

In 2021, Mexico’s navy turned 30 marines over to civilian prosecutors to face justice in the cases of people who disappeared during anti-crime operations in Nuevo Laredo in 2014. Marines were accused of rounding up supposed suspects, some of whom were not heard from again. Through 2018, dozens of people disappeared in Nuevo Laredo.

Under Mexican law, military tribunals can hear only cases that involve violations of military code; . Offenses against civilians must be tried in civilian courts.