SHOOTING IN TIJUANA KILLS SIX PEOPLE, WOUNDS ONE

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) Gunmen shot and killed six people early Tuesday in a
possible drug-related hit in a poor neighborhood.

The newspaper El Mexicano reported that the shootings involved one gang
retaliating against another because of a dispute over the heroin trade.

Police said they were investigating and had not yet determined a motive in
the attack that also left one person injured.

"It appears it was a vendetta, as far as we can see, because those
responsible are from the same neighborhood,'' said Alvaro Castilla Gracia,
commander of the State Judicial Police.

The latest round of violence in the border region occurred shortly after 3
a.m. in a southern Tijuana neighborhood called El Pipila. Two people were
arrested hours later.

Tijuana Municipal Police Chief Juan Manuel Nieves said it was not yet known
if there was a connection between all the victims.

Police found 28 bullet casings nearby and the victims were shot repeatedly,
said Lauro Ortiz, spokeswoman for the Tijuana judicial police.

Tuesday morning's shooting was the bloodiest attack in northern Baja
California since Sept. 17, when gunmen killed 18 members of an alleged drug
trafficker's family near Ensenada. A survivor of the early morning attack ,
Fermin Castro, died later. He was believed to be the main target.

Relatives and neighbors denied that Tuesday's victims had any connection to
drugs.

"They weren't bad people, they were working people,'' said neighbor Mariano
Avalos, 72.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski