GRAPHIC — Mexican Cartel Gunmen Kill Four at Border State Birthday Party

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Tamaulipas – A team of cartel gunmen stormed a local birthday party, killing four victims and injuring nine others. The attack is believed to be part of an ongoing turf war between rival factions of Los Zetas cartel.

The attack took place over the weekend in a private gazebo where a group gathered to celebrate the birthday of one of the victims. According to information provided to Breitbart News by Tamaulipas law enforcement officials, a team of six cartel gunmen pulled up to the party in a Ford Explorer and began shooting at everyone in attendance. Some of the revelers managed to hide behind a nearby hill. Gunmen used AK-47s and AR-15s to shoot as many people as they could. The gunmen left the area before law enforcement could arrive.

The victims included Tamaulipas State Police officer Luis Horacio Galvan Rodriguez and former state cop Ricardo Coronado Barrios. Both were only injured in the attack. Juan Jesus Tovar Vasquez, a security guard at the Tamaulipas Autonomous University, died a the scene from multiple gunshots.

Soon after, a faction of Los Zetas called “Old School Z,” along with the Gulf Cartel, used social media to take credit for the attack while claiming the victims were tied to the “Cartel Del Noreste” faction of Los Zetas.

For several months, Ciudad Victoria has been one of the main battlegrounds between the two rival factions of Los Zetas as they fight for territorial control. The fighting led to numerous executions and gory crime scenes, spreading fear among locals.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities.  The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “Francisco Morales” from Tamaulipas