Elderly Arizona residents shot on Mexican highway

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The governor of the Mexican border state of Sonora is urging motorists to be careful after two U.S. residents driving a Nissan Pathfinder were killed by gunmen on a highway south of Lukeville, Arizona, last Friday.

Initial Mexican press reports said the victims were both Americans, and a local newspaper published a photo of a vehicle with Arizona plates. But Governor Alfonso Durazo downplayed the American connection. He said the deceased, aged 72 and 82, were originally from Caborca, Mexico. They have been identified only by their first names, Enedina N. and Ubaldina N.

A television station in Tucson, Arizona, reported that the U.S. State Department had confirmed to its staff that one of the women was an American and the other a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Where exactly in Arizona the women lived has not yet been confirmed.

The Nissan showed bullet impact and was overturned, the Sonora Attorney General’s Office said on X. The Mexican Army and National Guard troops located the vehicle along kilometer 221 of the Sonoyta-Caborca ​​highway.

“There was some misinformation at first. The victims have been identified and they are from Caborca,” Durazo told reporters Tuesday. “We have seized the vehicle and the weapons used by the attackers and we have arrest warrants.”

The seized vehicle is a blue Ford F-150 pickup truck that had previously been reported stolen. The weapons are four AK-47 rifles, several magazines of ammunition and 90 rounds of 7.62×39 caliber bullets. Three ballistic vests were also found inside.

No arrests had been reported as of Wednesday.

Both the Sonora Attorney General’s Office and Governor Durazo referred to “a criminal group” when speaking about the attackers.

“We have clearly identified the criminal groups that operate there,” Durazo told reporters. “It is clear that (drivers) must travel with the utmost caution, not only here but on any (highway) in the country or anywhere in the world.”