Step by step: how the massacre of five young people in Nuevo Laredo happened, according to Sedena

Amid uncertainty, outrage and questioning over the murder of five youths in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas in the hands of the military, the Secretary of National Defense (sedena) shared his version of what happened at dawn on February 26.

At approximately 4:50 a.m. that day, while making their rounds of surveillance, agents from a base of operations established in this city heard gunshots.

Immediately afterwards, the uniformed officers moved towards where, it is presumed, the origin of the shots had been. It was during these actions that they visualized a Vehicle type pick up with seven subjects on board.

According to the Sedena press release, the individuals were driving at high speed, “with the lights off and without license plates”. Apparently, after noticing the presence of military personnel, the young men increased their speed “in an untimely and evasive manner” until they collided with a parked car, which brought their march to a halt.

Later, after listening “a rumble” —who did not specify whether it was a gunshot or something that attempted against the agents—, the military fired their guns. Following this reaction, five of the seven men were killed: Gustavo Pérez Beriles, Wilberto Mata Estrada, Jonathan Aguilar Sánchez, Gustavo Ángel Suárez Castillo (American national) and Alejandro Trujillo Rocha.

In addition to the dead, “one uninjured person was observed” and one injured person, details the company’s report.

Due to the impact that this action has caused both on the victims and their families and on public opinion, authorities such as the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR), the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the General Prosecutor’s Office of Military Justice have begun their respective investigations in order to determine the veracity of this version and to integrate the corresponding instruction file.

In addition to these actions, Sedena promised to maintain an open dialogue with the families of the victims through its Citizen Liaison Unit and to provide them with the necessary attention and support during investigations.

After the army’s apparent extrajudicial execution of the youths was exposed, images circulated on social media lamenting the deaths of the victims. Some of the publications related to Wilberto Mata Estrada have identified him with the pseudonym “Mando Willyand included images of the young man using weapons and tactical gear with the initials “CDN”, alluding to the Northeastern Cartel.

Preliminary versions indicated that Mata Estrada could have been a member of the armed wing of the said criminal group called Hell’s Troop. However, no official report has been published confirm or deny this information.

For its part, the CNDH announced the filing of an ex officio complaint for possible human rights violations perpetrated in Nuevo Laredo by Sedena staff.

“This autonomous constitutional body will carry out investigative work that the law authorizes, with all seriousness and responsibility, as I have done in other media cases. When it has all the necessary elements, it will make the relevant opinions,” the Commission said in a statement.

A few hours after the murder of the young people, the relatives of the victims and the inhabitants of the district They clashed with elements of the Sedena while they did the work to remove the van pick up the one they shot. The confrontation was recorded in several videos that were shared on social media.

Added to this, relatives of the slain civilians shared their own version alleging that the youths were innocent and did not engage in any activity justifying the assault on the uniformed officers, which they accused was a abuse of authority. Initial reports indicated that the injured subject was in serious medical condition.