Authorities in Mexico arrested a suspect in connection with the ambush murders of nine U.S. citizens, six of which were children and three of whom were women. In a statement on its Facebook page, the Agency for Criminal Investigation in the state of Sonora said that the suspect — whose name, age and sex were not released — was found in the town of Agua Prieta, right across the border from Douglas, Arizona.
The suspect was reportedly holding two bound and gagged hostages inside a vehicle, according to the statement. Investigators also found four assault rifles and a bulletproof SUV, authorities said.
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“A person was arrested in possession of two .223 long guns, a .308 long gun, ten .223 caliber magazines, a .308 full magazine and a 50-gauge Barrett long rifle,” the agency’s statement said in Spanish. “We are investigating the possibility that the person who was arrested had participated in these terrible events.”
Information about the hostages found inside the vehicle is unclear.
The nine people killed earlier this week lived in a Mormon community in northern Mexico, about 100 miles south fo the Arizona border. They all left in a three-car convoy at the same time, with some traveling back to the United States and others heading to a neighboring town for a wedding.
While the convoy of SUVs was driving along a remote road, they were ambushed with sudden gunfire. CBS News reports that one of the SUVs exploded from the barrage.
One relative said he located one of the burned-out, bullet-ridden SUVs containing the remains of his nephew’s wife and her four children: twin 7-month-old babies and two older children aged 8 and 10.
Jhon LeBaron, one of the relatives, posted on his Facebook page that his aunt and another woman were dead, and that six of his aunt’s children had been left abandoned but alive on a roadside. He wrote late Monday that a total of 17 of his family members were in the convoy when it came under attack. He said nine were killed, six wounded and two left unharmed.
Relatives of the family told news outlets that they believe the attack was a case of mistaken identity by drug cartel gunmen, but authorities have not commented on a motive. The FBI has reportedly joined Mexican officials in investigating.
Both Mexican and U.S. government officials have vowed to find the people responsible for the murders. President Donald Trump called the gunmen “monsters” in a tweet on Tuesday, adding that “the United States stands ready, willing & able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively. The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!”
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in a tweet on Tuesday, “Through communication with Trump, I send my deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who were killed on the borders of Chihuahua and Sonora.”
Trish Cloes, who is the aunt of victim Dawna Ray Langford, told Reuters that the family was devastated and emotional and that all they could do was “start thinking positive and praying” when they heard about the tragedy.
“It’s something that you can’t explain, that there are evil people in this world that could do such a thing like that,” she said, adding that she wanted to remember her relatives as “amazing, family-oriented people. They are loving, they are giving… they’re always looking out for others.”
