SHOTS APPARENTLY FIRED FROM JUAREZ PELT CITY HALL, ENTER
OFFICE

EL PASO -- Several gunshots apparently fired from Juarez hit El Paso
City Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

No one was hurt, but nerves were rattled at City Hall in what is
thought to be the first cross-border gunfire during a drug war that
has engulfed Juarez since 2008.

El Paso police spokesman Darrel Petry said investigators do not think
City Hall was intentionally targeted but rather was struck by stray
shots.

"It does appear the rounds may have come from an incident in Juarez,"
Petry said.

City Hall, whose east and west sides are covered by glass windows,
sits on a hill about a half-mile north of the Rio Grande.

About 4:50 p.m., city workers were going about a regular day when a
bullet penetrated a ninth-floor west side window of the office of
Assistant City Manager Pat Adauto.

Police said the bullet flew through the window, then through an
interior wall before hitting a picture frame and stopping.

The building was not evacuated, but several secretaries with windows
facing Juarez described the incident as scary. Several police officers
were sent to City Hall. A police crime scene investigator could be
seen taking photos of the building.

Petry said an inspection by police and city staff found that City Hall
was hit by seven gunshots, which appeared to be losing velocity when
they struck. Six of the rounds hit stucco walls on the north and south
sides of the building. Two bullets were recovered -- the one that went
through the window and one that bounced off an exterior wall. The size
of the bullets was not disclosed.

"Any time somebody takes a shot at City Hall, it's of great concern to
us," El Paso Mayor John Cook said. "It's OK if people take political
shots at us, but this is unacceptable."

Police said that an investigation into the shooting continues and that
they would be contacting authorities in Juarez.

El Paso police said the time the gunshots hit City Hall coincides with
a shooting in west Juarez on Bernardo Norzagaray boulevard, which runs
parallel to the Rio Grande.

Authorities said a Mexican federal police officer was killed during an
attack by gunmen near a Smart supermarket on Norzagaray boulevard.

Chihuahua state police identified the dead man as Domingo Hernandez
Espinoza and said that two other people were wounded. Investigators
found 40 bullet casings from an AK-47 and other firearms.

A Mexican federal police Blackhawk helicopter and a smaller helicopter
were flying in circles over west Juarez after that shooting. A Border
Patrol helicopter was later flying on the U.S. side.

More than 1,300 people have been murdered in Juarez this year as a war
continues relentlessly between the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels.

Daytime shootings, grisly mutilations and ambushes of police have
become common.

Attacks on government leaders in Mexico have also increased.

But Tuesday's shooting was thought to be the first time that bullets
shot in Juarez hit El Paso during the current violence, Petry said.
The last time bullets fired in Juarez landed in El Paso was probably
celebratory gunfire during New Year's Day in 2000, he said.

Similar cross-border shootings have occurred in other cities. Last
September, the University of Texas at Brownsville was closed for a
weekend after a building and a parked car on campus were hit by
bullets fired during a shootout across the border in Matamoros, Mexico.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com;
546-6102.

El Paso Times reporter Marty Schladen contributed to this story.