11 family members shot to death in central Mexico

Religious differences have been cited as a possible reason for the assassination in the state of Puebla last night of 11 people, all members of the same family.

A law enforcement official said they believe two attackers shot the woman, her family, and other relatives, including two girls. The attack happened on Friday in the Mexican city of Coxcatlan in central Mexico.

Coxcatlan Mayor Vicente Lopez de la Vega said the dead include five women, four men and two girls. The killers also brutally slashed a male victim believed to be the woman’s partner, and may have tried to decapitate him.

Puebla state government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed the massacre.

The prosecutor’s office is investigating the attack and have put two eyewitnesses under protection.

Authorities have not identified the victims or the suspects.

The Puebla state prosecutor’s office told the AP that one of the attackers raped one of women years ago, and she had a child by him. “The attackers came on foot to where the family was and opened fire whereabouts”, said the judicial authorities of the State of Puebla.

“Personal conflicts are the main line of investigation”, the office said.

Lopez de la Vega said the hamlet’s residents, who are largely evangelical Protestants, had disagreements with a neighboring village that is mostly Roman Catholic. News stories displayed here appear in our category for General and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization.

The two homes where the killings occurred can be reached only by foot and the bodies had to be carried to the nearest road on stretchers.