Mexico rejects abuse claims in deadly gunfight

The 42 criminal suspects killed in a shootout with federal forces in western Mexico had rejected calls to surrender, authorities said Monday, rejecting claims of police brutality.

Families of the dead and security experts have raised doubts about the official account of what happened at a ranch in Michoacan state on Friday because only one officer was killed.

Three suspects gave themselves up during the confrontation, while the others kept shooting during a more than three-hour-long battle that included a helicopter gunship, said National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido.

"It was a situation where the criminal group took the decision to confront the police forces," Rubido told reporters.

"There was no other alternative than to repel the aggression in the same manner that they initiated it.

"They would shoot, run, hide. It was sporadic but long and it took more than three hours," he said.

He said all 42 suspects tested positive for gunshot residue, meaning they had all fired a weapon.

Another 73 ballistics tests were conducted to determine the distance of the shots and they all showed that they were taken from a long distance, Rubido said, adding that the shots were fired close to the ground.
Experts had noted on Friday that there were more dead and detained suspects than weapons seized, but Rubido said the new figure for captured guns also totaled 45.

Two of the detainees admitted that they are members of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, a gang that has challenged President Enrique Pena Nieto's security forces, killing at least 28 police and troops since March.

Relatives of the dead said many were farmers from Jalisco who had gone to find a job in Michoacan, but some acknowledged they did not know what kind of work they were doing.

Families that picked up bodies at a morgue in Michoacan's capital on Sunday said pictures shown by forensic services officials showed that some of the dead appeared to have been beaten and had their teeth knocked out.

Experts noted that the lopsided death toll was reminiscent of an incident in June 2014, when the army initially said that soldiers had killed 22 gang suspects, while only one service member was wounded in a shootout.

Prosecutors later charged three soldiers with murdering eight suspects, while rights officials say at least 12 people had been killed after surrendering.