Terrifying video footage shows the moment a prosecutor was ambushed and killed in the Mexican border city of Reynosa on Monday.
Ernesto Vázquez was driving his black Cadillac Escalade when a gang of assassins launched their attack on him on Hidalgo Boulevard, brazenly tossing a grenade at the back of the vehicle during afternoon rush hour .
While clearly in agonizing pain, Vázquez was able to get out of the vehicle on his own and crawled across the pavement.
The assailants then pulled up in a white Ford Explorer and opened fire on the defenseless official.
Additional video footage showed prosecutor’s body on the ground as stunned motorists rode past the scene of the attack.
Moments later, a bystander was seen dragging Vázquez away from the blown-up vehicle, which was engulfed in flames.
Vázquez was a prosecutor who joined the Federal Attorney General’s Office in 2019 and was its senior representative at the Tamaulipas State Attorney General’s Office.
The assault took place just four miles from the entrance of the Reynosa-Hidalgo International Bridge that links Reynosa with Hidalgo, Texas and about one mile from the Tamaulipas State Attorney General’s Office headquarters.
Authorities recovered the Ford Explorer around 10pm just blocks away from the attack.
Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal denounced the deadly assault in a statement on X.
‘From the Government of Tamaulipas, we condemn the murder of the Attorney General’s Office Delegate in the state,’ Villarreal wrote. ‘We stand in solidarity with his family and reiterate our full willingness to assist the Attorney General’s Office and the Government of Mexico in the pursuit of justice and the construction of peace.’
The Reynosa Chamber of Commerce president, Gildardo López, told El Norte newspaper that Vázquez’s murder could negatively impact trade with the United States.
‘Our city will fall into a binational trade crisis again,’ he warned.
López added that it is only a matter of time before the U.S. Embassy reveals a travel advisory warning against travel to Tamaulipas.
‘Our city will be commercially paralyzed for a potentially long period,’ he said.
According to the Department of State, U.S. citizens are recommended not to travel to the state of Tamaulipas because of crime and kidnapping.
‘Organized crime activity – including gun battles, murder, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, forced disappearances, extortion, and sexual assault – is common along the northern border and in Ciudad Victoria,’ the advisory reads.
‘Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments.’
It also warns that ‘heavily armed members of criminal groups often patrol areas of the state and operate with impunity particularly along the border region from Reynosa to Nuevo Laredo.’