Authorities in Mexico have arrested three people in connection with a deadly armed assault on an amateur football match in central Mexico that left at least 11 people dead and more than a dozen others injured.
The attack occurred near the city of Salamanca in Guanajuato State. As families and spectators were leaving the football grounds following a local game.
In a statement, Guanajuato’s Security Secretariat confirmed the arrests, describing them as the outcome of coordinated security operations across the area.
“The three arrests resulted from various coordinated and targeted operations carried out by state security forces,” the agency said.
Officials declined to disclose the identities of the suspects or specify the charges against them, citing the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation.
According to preliminary findings, five of the victims were unarmed security guards working at the football pitch. Investigators believe the guards were specifically targeted because of their previous employment with a company allegedly linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations.
Security sources said the attackers are suspected members of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, a Guanajuato-based criminal group currently locked in a violent turf war with CJNG.
Witnesses said heavily armed men stormed the pitch shortly after the match ended, opening fire on players and spectators in what authorities have described as a targeted attack rather than a random act of violence.
Local authorities have increased patrols in Salamanca and surrounding communities as investigations continue, while residents mourn the victims of one of the region’s deadliest recent attacks.
Guanajuato remains one of Mexico’s most violent states, with cartel rivalries frequently erupting into public shootings and mass casualty incidents.
