Shootings leave 16 dead in Mexico’s troubled Guerrero

More than a dozen people have been killed and several others injured in separate shooting attacks in Mexico’s troubled Guerrero State.

According to media reports on Monday, unknown gunmen stormed an illegal cockfight match in the Pacific coast town of Cuajinicuilapa, and opened fire on the crowd there.

At least 12 people were reportedly killed and five others injured in the shooting.

Authorities said two of the dead were minors under the age of 18, including a 12-year-old boy whose father is a local gang leader. However, the motive of the Sunday attack is still not clear.

Some reports said the spectators at the event shot back at the attackers, according to a statement from Mexican prosecutors.

Police sources have a given a different account of the incident. AFP cited local officers as saying that the shootout broke out after an argument between two groups that were watching the event.

Police have launched an investigation into the deadly incident.

Elsewhere in the same state, unidentified gunmen opened fire on an amateur soccer match on the outskirts of the Acapulco city, killing four people.

Guerrero is one of Mexico’s violence-hit states, where criminal gangs are active.