RETALIATION IS REASON FOR SURGE IN JUAREZ SLAYINGS, OFFICIALS SAY

JUAREZ -- The slayings of 25 people -- including women and teenagers
- -- in a series of multiple killings Thursday night was a systematic
attack in apparent retaliation for a kidnapping of child, officials
said Friday.

Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said the wave of killings was connected to
messages left on two walls allegedly by the Juarez drug cartel
threatening retaliation against the Sinaloa drug cartel for the kidnapping.

In a matter of hours Thursday, deliberate and brutal slayings took
place in different neighborhoods in the city.

"Yesterday was a day of extreme violence, especially multiple murders,
where criminal groups sent several messages and threats that have to
be analyzed (by authorities)," Reyes Ferriz said in a news statement.

Jose Ramon Salinas, a Mexican federal police spokesman, said
authorities are aware of the messages, but he declined to comment
because of the ongoing investigation.

One message written on a wall read: "Be men, return the boy or else
you will get into a war that you will regret. Att. Diego"

Its not known who was kidnapped or when it took place.

Even for Juarez, which has been in the clutches of a drug war that has
claimed the lives of more than 6,000 people since 2008, the attacks
Thursday were shocking.

The victims ranged in age from 15 to 60.

At the scene of one crime, residents were appalled at the magnitude of
the attacks.

Jaime Hernandez experienced the violence so close that he now fears
for his and his family's lives.

His father, Pedro Hernandez, was shot and killed Thursday night by a
group of gunmen who opened fire against residents of his neighborhood
in South Juarez.

Seven people were shot near a home in the Ampliacion Aeropuerto
neighborhood.

Police said the gunmen targeted two men and shot the others for no
apparent reason. Seventy bullet casings, including 7.62 x 39mm (used
in AK-47 rifles) and 9 mm casings, were found at the scene.

Pedro Hernandez, 67, was a bystander killed at the
scene.

Jaime Hernandez said his father was sitting on the porch of their home
when gunmen shot him dead.

Jaime Hernandez was inside the house when the attack occurred. He said
he ran outside to check on his father when he heard the gunfire. But
it was too late, he said --his father was dead.

"My dad was at the wrong place at the wrong time," he
said.

Neighbors said more than 30 shots were fired, and several gunmen were
seen with high-powered weapons walking up and down the street while at
least six victims were lying on sidewalks.

Police said Pedro Hernandez and the other four victims -- Luis Raul
Campa Valdez, 25, Daniel Adrian Renteria Renteria, 25, Juan Daniel
Avalos Villegas, 15, and a man between the ages of 25 and 30 -- died
at the scene. Another victim, Jesus Alejandro Munoz Castro, 24, died
of his wounds at the Star Medica Hospital.

The seventh shooting victim, a pregnant woman, was taken to a Juarez
hospital for treatment.

"They killed innocent people," said Esteban Cervantes, a friend of
Jaime Hernandez.

Cervantes cried over the death of his friend and expressed his rage
against criminals.

"He was a soul from God and they took him between their feet,"
Cervantes said.

Other residents of the neighborhood said they were too afraid to talk
about the shootings because they feared retaliation. There was sense
of uneasiness in the neighborhood. Residents seemed to hide behind
their front doors and would not come out of their homes. Some of them
would refer reporters to other neighbors but offered no comments on
what had taken place Thursday.

Many of the homes had iron gates and bars for protection. Blood from
Thursday's attack was visible on the sidewalk.

That attack was one of many throughout the city Thursday night and
Friday morning.

The wave of killings began at 4:45 p.m. when two men and two women
were shot to death in a home in the El Granjero neighborhood. Police
identified the victims as Jose Luis Batres Mijares, 60, Jose Manuel
Avila Sanchez, 55, Elba Escudero, 57, and Jessica Rubio Escudero, 26.

Before 8 p.m., four more people were shot to death in the El Granjas
de Chapultepec neighborhood of Juarez.

Police said Carmen Rivera Duenas, 51, Rosa Mariel Licon Munoz, 22, Noe
Borunda Rivera, 17, and Griselda Borunda Rivera, 15, were found dead
inside a home. They had all been shot in the head.

Just after midnight Friday, gunman killed Eva Aguilar Alverdi, 36, in
her home in the Chavena colonia.

Her husband and 12-year-old son were wounded during the attack,
Chihuahua state police officials said.

Others have not been identified.

Since a drug war broke out, Juarez has attracted international
attention, and a flood of soldiers and federal police have been sent
in there an attempt to stop the violence.