Mexico: US Embassy employees shot by police

July 31, 2016

By Allison Jackson

A Mexican federal policeman stands next to an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint in the Mexican resort of San Jose del Cabo on June 16, 2012.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Mexican federal police shot and wounded two US Embassy employees during a botched car chase on the southern outskirts of Mexico City today.

Reuters reported that police fired on the four-wheel-drive vehicle, which carried diplomatic plates, because they mistakenly thought it was part of a group of suspected kidnappers they were pursuing.

"Today at 8:00 a.m., a diplomatic vehicle belonging to the US embassy was hit by multiple bullets from personnel of the federal police on the Tres Marias-Huitzilac highway," the public security ministry and navy said in a joint statement, Agence France-Presse reported.

One of the employees was hit in the leg and the other in the stomach and hand, the BBC reported.

The incident happened on a stretch of highway close to the city of Cuernavaca, which has been a hot spot for criminal gangs.

The US Embassy vehicle was heading to a military installation when gunmen opened fire.

"This was all because of a mix-up," a Mexican government security official was quoted by Reuters as saying.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington the US Embassy was working with Mexican authorities to investigate the incident, the Associated Press reported.

She said the injured employees were “in a stable condition.”

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