On 27 March 2022, 20 people were killed in a mass shooting in Las Tinajas, Zinapécuaro,

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Background

The Mexican drug war is a

low-intensity conflict A low-intensity conflict (LIC) is a military conflict, usually localised, between two or more state or non-state groups which is below the intensity of conventional war. It involves the state's use of military forces applied selectively and with ...

which began in 2006. Michoacán, in western Mexico, is badly affected by the conflict. Several

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

s have occurred there, including a mass shooting on 27 February 2022 in San José de Gracia. Rival gangs in the area are also involved in

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

and in illegal tapping of pipelines.

Incident

During the evening of 27 March 2022, gunmen armed with

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

s and assault rifles opened fire at an illegal cockfighting pit and shot dead 17 men and three women. Several other people were wounded. One person later died on their way to the hospital. The massacre was believed to be part of a conflict between the

Jalisco New Generation Cartel The Jalisco New Generation Cartel ( es, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación) or CJNG, formerly known as ''Los Mata Zetas'', is a semi-militarized Mexican criminal group based in Jalisco which is headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Me ...

and a local gang called the Familia Michoacana.

Aftermath

On 1 April 2022, five men were arrested in

Susupuato Susupuato is a municipality in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The municipality has an area of 273.33 square kilometres (0.46% of the surface of the state) and is bordered to the north by the municipality of Juárez, to the e ...

in connection with the massacre. They were also linked to a February 2022 attack on a prosecutor's office in Maravatío.

References

2022 mass shootings in North America Mass shootings in Mexico 2022 murders in Mexico 21st century in Michoacán Massacres of the Mexican drug war Cockfighting Crime in Michoacán March 2022 crimes in North America March 2022 events in Mexico Massacres in 2022 Jalisco New Generation Cartel Violent non-state actor incidents in Mexico {{Mexico-hist-stub