Date | March 4, 2009 |
---|---|
Time | 7 a.m. MST (2 p.m. UTC) |
Location | Cerezo state prison, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico |
Coordinates | 31°38′42″N 106°27′43″W / 31.6449°N 106.4620°W |
Cause | Gang rivalry |
Casualties | |
20 dead, 15 injured |
A prison riot occurred at the CERESO state prison in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, on March 4, 2009. During the riots, at least 20 people were killed and 15 were injured. [1] [2] Although a police spokesman stated that no police or jail guards were killed during the riots, [2] the Red Cross said that two policemen had been killed. [3] The riot was a fight among several rival gangs, the " Barrio Azteca", " Los Mexicles" and " Artistas Asesinos" (AA). [4] [5]
The riots began at roughly 7 AM local time (2 PM UTC), and lasted for about two hours. [2] 14 members of the Aztecas "subjugated" a prison guard with knives and stole the guard's keys. [5] [6] The gang then opened several cells, releasing 170 prisoners. [5] The prisoners forced their way into an area where members of the Mexicles and AA were meeting with family and friends during conjugal visits, and attacked them. [7] During the riots, prisoners set blocks of prison cells on fire, stabbed each other with knives, or were beaten. [1] Other prisoners used rifles and iron pins as weapons. [4] In addition, some prisoners were thrown from the second story of buildings. [4] Two of the 20 prisoners died at a local hospital, while the remainder died in the prison. [8]
At least 50 members of the Mexican Army and 200 police were deployed to end the riots. [7] An airplane and two helicopters were also used to quell the violence. [2] Earlier in the day, 1,500 troops began entering the city in an effort to reduce drug-and-gang-related violence, which, over the last year, took the lives of 2,000 people in Ciudad Juárez. [9]